Time Out
by cncgrad02
Summary: What exactly took place after Gabriella left Troy on the bridge in HSM2? How did the rest of the Wildcats get the news? How did Gabriella make it back to Lava Springs for the talent show? Plot holes will be filled in!
1. Breaking the News

**Hello, all! I'm back! I have a lot planned for this story! It is not Zanessa this time. Troyella all the way. While watching HSM2 for the first time a long time ago, it was evident to me that there were a lot of plot holes left wide open. I hope that this story fills in those plot holes. ****Not that I'm one to ask for reviews- I don't write for the reviews, I write because I enjoy it- but I did notice that my numbers have gone down in my last story. I hope I can make this one more enjoyable for you.**

**Thank you Anna for being my ears! I appreciate you! By the way, yall, I don't own anything. Just the movies, cds, and some trinkets. **

**Chapter 1**

She did it. She actually did it. She couldn't believe that she did it and her heart was breaking because of it, but she did it. Gabriella Montez had just broken up with the only guy that she'd ever cared for. Not only was Troy the first one she'd ever cared for, but he was also her first friend here in Albuquerque. Next to Taylor, he was her best friend. As she turned her back on him and walked to the parking lot, she made the mistake of turning around once more, only to see him open his hand to see the "T" necklace sitting in his palm. The look on his face as he lifted his eyes again and caught her looking at him was enough to break her heart all over again, causing even more tears to fall as she turned back around and continued the walk to her mom's van, if that was even possible.

As Gabriella climbed into the Honda Odyssey minivan and shut the door, Maria Montez took in her daughter's obviously upset appearance. She could tell by the look on Gabriella's face that she didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her to the point of calling her mom to come pick her up instead of sticking to the plan of getting her boyfriend of just over six months to drive her home, so she simply pulled out of her parking space and began the drive back in the direction of town. After riding in silence for nearly ten minutes, Gabriella was the first to speak.

"I broke up with him, Mom," she stated quietly, her gaze fixed on her hands resting in her lap. It didn't go unnoticed by Maria as Gabriella reached up to wipe a tear off her cheek.

"Oh, Mija," she said as she lifted a hand to run it through her daughter's black, curly locks. "I figured something had happened. You aren't wearing the necklace," her mom pointed out.

"I gave it back," Gabriella admitted quietly, looking out the passenger side window and watching the scenery as it passed by.

"What? Why? What happened?"

"I don't know, Mom, that's just it. Troy's changed and Shar-" Gabriella stopped, fixing her lips in a straight line and lowering her eyes back to the hands in her lap, as she realized that she just let something slip out that she shouldn't have. Her mom, despite the fact that she generally liked everyone and worked hard to pass this onto her daughter, had never been a huge fan of Sharpay's and once the story of her involvement in whatever had gone on between Gabriella and Troy became knowledge to Maria, she would not be happy in the least.

Maria raised her eyebrows in suspicion. "Gabi, please don't tell me that Sharpay had anything to do with this. I thought that the two of you had worked out all of your differences after the musical a few months ago."

"Well, she didn't directly have anything to do with this. It was more Troy, I guess. He didn't even realize what she was doing until it was already done. She's just sneaky like that."

"Then why did you break up with him instead of talking to him about it?" Maria asked, still trying to find out all the details.

"Mom-" Gabriella said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. Her tone told Maria that she had reached her limit on the amount of information that she would find out from her seventeen year old daughter.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie. You don't want to talk about it, I can tell. No more pushing, I promise. But if you do want to talk…"

"I know, Mom. You're here for me. Thank you."

The rest of the trip home was made in silence. When the two Montez women walked through the front door, Gabriella headed straight upstairs, changed into her pajamas, washed her face, climbed into bed, and turned on her television. After watching a full hour of _Friends_ re-runs hoping it would make her laugh and take her mind off her recent breakup- never mind that it was the episode where Rachel decided that she and Ross needed a break and he called the radio station to dedicate a song to her and watching it only caused her tears to fall once again- she turned off her tv and as she reached over to turn off the lamp on her bedside table, her eyes landed on one of her favorite pictures of her and Troy together. It was taken on the last day of final exams about a month prior.

The whole group- minus the Evans twins- had gathered at Troy's house for a post exam celebration, ready to embrace their near freedom as they still had three days of school, two of which were half days. Troy and Gabriella were sitting on the steps leading to the back door of his house- she on the step below him, him above her with his legs on either side of hers and his arms wrapped around her- while the rest of the group was sitting at the patio table, gossiping for the girls and eating the snacks which had been provided by Mrs. Bolton for the guys. Troy had leaned down to whisper something in his girlfriend's ear, causing her to laugh and her cute button nose to crinkle. The two were looking at each other in the candid picture, taken by Taylor just seconds after their laughter subsided. Neither knew that she had taken the picture until she brought it back to Troy's with her later that evening. Having used the excuse that she needed to run home to pick something up that she had forgotten, Taylor printed the picture out on her laptop, grabbed one of her own picture frames with the intent to replace it the next time she was at Target, and made her way back to Troy's to rejoin the rest of the group.

Looking at the picture, Gabriella instinctively brought her hand up to her neck, reaching for the necklace, only to pause with her hand halfway to her neck with the realization that it was no longer there. It was at that moment that she was overcome with sadness yet again. She reached for her phone and called her best friend. Glancing at the caller id on her own phone, Taylor frantically answered.

"Girl, what happened to you? You took off after I showed everyone the flyer from Mr. Fulton and no one's seen Troy, either! What's going on? Is he with you? Is everything okay?"

"Taylor, can you come over for a bit? I'll explain everything, I promise."

Taylor was quick to take note of the hint of sadness in her best friend's voice. "Yeah, I'll be there soon. Let me tell Chad bye and I'll be on my way." With that, the two girls hung up.

About forty-five minutes later, Taylor was pulling up in front of the Montez house. As she grabbed the grocery bag that was sitting in the passenger seat next to her, the dark skinned girl made her way to the front door, and rang the doorbell.

"Taylor," Maria greeted her daughter's best friend as she opened the door. "I was wondering if Gabi would call you."

"Is she upstairs, Ms. Montez?"

"She is. I see you've got reinforcements with you," she said gesturing to the bag in the young girl's hands.

"Ben and Jerry's," Taylor confirmed as she stepped into the foyer of the Montez home, closing the front door behind her, and followed Maria into the kitchen and taking the two spoons that she held out to her.

"Chunky Monkey?"

"The best kind! Thank you, Ms. Montez," she said as she walked out of the kitchen and started to climb the steps. When she reached the third step, she stopped as Maria called out to her.

"Taylor, just a second, please."

"Yes, ma'am?" Taylor asked, turning on the stairs to face Maria.

"Has she told you anything?"

"No, ma'am, not yet. All I know is that we were all in the kitchen except for Troy and I came in announcing that workers wouldn't be allowed to participate in the talent show and Gabriella stormed out. That's the last time any of us saw her."

"What about Troy?" Ms. Montez asked her daughter's best friend, confusion evident in her features.

"Nobody's seen him since this morning."

"Thank you, Taylor," Ms. Montez said with a sigh.

"You're welcome, Ms. Montez," she said as she turned and climbed the rest of the steps and walked down the hall to Gabriella's room. Knocking three times to announce her arrival, Taylor opened the door and walked in without waiting on a response from her best friend. She immediately spotted Gabriella sitting on her bed with a box of Kleenex on the bed side table and holding the stuffed Wildcat that Troy had given her for her birthday that March. Glancing at the tv, Taylor noticed that Gabriella was watching the "Twinkle Town" dvd from about five months earlier. With a sigh, Taylor picked up the remote control and turned off the dvd player and tv.

"Sweetie," she started, sitting down on the bed next to Gabriella and wrapping her arms around the tearful brunette. "What happened?"

"He's changed, Tay. I don't even know who he is anymore. I don't even think _he_ knows who he is anymore."

"Well, we all knew that he was getting all caught up in everything, but why don't you tell me the whole story?" Taylor encouraged, while handing Gabriella one of the two spoons and pulled the pint of Chunky Monkey out of the bag. Gabriella greatfully took the offered ice cream and one of the spoons that Taylor held out to her. She took the lid off the sweet treat and dug into the ice cream taking a bite before filling her friend in on the confrontation that she had with Sharpay followed by the conversation with Troy.

"Wow," Taylor said with wide eyes, once Gabriella finished her story. "I guess that explains why Chad and I saw Troy sitting by himself next to the pool looking pretty upset when we were walking to our cars after you called."

"By himself?" Gabriella scoffed with her eyes furrowed. "You mean there was no Sharpay nearby? No Italian leather shoes? No Redhawk basketball players?" she asked, taking another bite. Taylor couldn't help but take note of the resentment in her friend's actions and words.

"Gabriella, you know I'm, like, 500% on your side, but that's unfair. I mean, yeah, maybe he has changed. But maybe he doesn't realize that he's changed as much as we all see that he has. You told me that he said he never meant to hurt you. I believe that. In all the years that I've known Troy Bolton, I've never seen him even look at anyone the way he looks at you."

"Gee, thanks, Taylor! Way to make me feel better!"

"I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here. I mean, Gabriella, do you really truly in your heart of hearts feel like it's over between you two? Is this really the end for Troyella?"

"Troyella?" Gabriella repeated, with a very slight hint of humor in her voice.

"Well, yeah. Chad was bored one day during our break. He came up with it. Apparently your name is too long for him to say, so he came up with something he can say when he talks about you two without saying your name."

"Yeah, that sounds like Chad!" The two girls shared a very brief giggle on the behalf of Taylor's own boyfriend. The moment didn't last long, however, before Taylor reminded Gabriella of her earlier question.

"Seriously, though, Gab. Do you really feel like this is the end?"

Gabriella let out a sigh and thought about Taylor's question. She thought about all of the good times that the two of them whenever they were on dates. She thought about the way he made her feel like a princess the night of their junior prom about three weeks before school let out for the summer break. She thought about how she felt when Troy put the "T" necklace around her neck on the last day of school several weeks ago. She thought about their picnic out on the golf course. She thought about the two of them singing the song that Kelsi had written for them.

She thought about her feelings when he was over an hour late for their date the night of his fancy dinner with Sharpay and her family. She thought about her feelings when he stood up not only her, but their friends as well, to go play basketball with the Redhawks instead of the staff baseball game with the rest of the group. She also thought about the way her feelings had been crushed when she finally realized what she thought was the right decision. Now, after talking to Taylor, she wasn't so sure. After what felt like an eternity, Gabriella finally answered.

"I don't know, Tay. All I know is that I love him. This was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, which is why this hurts so much." Gabriella's voice cracked as she felt yet another lump the size of her fist and the now familiar tears form once again.

Taylor looked at her friend for a moment, and then wrapped her arms around her. "Hey, everything will work itself out one way or another. I don't know how and I don't know when, but it will. Just give it time."

"Thanks, Taylor," Gabriella said, returning the hug.

"Anytime," Taylor reassured her. Finally, after sharing a long comforting hug, Taylor pulled back and brushed Gabriella's bangs out of her face. "I really wish I could stay, but Mr. Fulton has a meeting with the planning committee for the talent show tomorrow morning and I have to be there. I'd better head home so I can get to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"No, you won't. I quit tonight."

"You have _got _to quit springing news on me when I'm leaving!" Taylor exclaimed, shocked. "You do this all the time! Why did you quit?"

"I'm not exactly sure, to be honest with you. I just felt like it needed to be done," Gabriella told her.

"Well, I guess it makes sense. Okay then. I'll call you tomorrow?" Taylor suggested.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you then. Bye, Tay."

"Bye." Taylor pushed herself off the bed and made her way to Gabriella's bedroom door, turning around when she heard her name being called.

"Hey, Taylor?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Taylor said, giving Gabriella a wave and a smile.

Once Taylor left, Gabriella climbed out of her bed and made her way to the balcony, grabbing the blanket off the foot of her bed on the way. Opening the French doors, she stepped outside. As she leaned up against the door frame, she looked out over the backyard. Her eyes landed on the hammock and her mind wandered. Thinking back to just two weeks prior when she and Troy were sitting in the hammock- something that they had done almost every day since they started officially dating- she let out a sigh. She moved her gaze up to the stars. "Oh, Troy. Why did you let her come between us? What else could I have done to make you see that you were pushing me away? I hate that it had to come to this." Gabriella turned to go back inside, shutting the doors behind her.

As she got back in the bed, her eyes landed on the picture once again. She reached her hand out, fingering the frame. Gabriella felt the tears come to her eyes and, with a sigh, picked up the picture. She then burrowed herself further into her covers and held the picture close to her chest while she cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Troy was standing in the shadows of the backyard of his girlfriend's- girlfriend? Ex? What are they?- house, praying that he wouldn't make the one move that would compromise his position. He was still holding out hope that he'd get the courage to talk to her and find out the answers he needed as to _what _exactly happened between them and how did it lead her to break up with him. He was totally blindsided by her announcement, and needed to know why. The decision to go to her house was not an easy one to make.

_Once Gabriella turned and walked away, leaving him standing alone on the bridge at Lava Springs Country Club, and climbed in the passenger seat of Maria's van, he too turned and walked back to the pool. As he sat down on one of the chairs and leaned back into it, he brought his right hand up in front of him and opened his palm, looking at the "T" necklace. Feeling the lump form in his throat again, he pushed the necklace into the pocket of his jeans, swearing silently to himself. He leaned his head against the back of the chair, looking at the stars above. He didn't know how long he sat in that position, but the sound of voices brought him out of his thoughts. Lifting his head up, Troy looked across the pool and saw Chad and Taylor walking out of the back door of the kitchen and towards the employee parking lot. Troy sat silently in his chair, hoping that they didn't see him. He was in no way anywhere near being in the mood to answer questions about what happened just moments before. Oh, who was he kidding? They were two of the least likely people to approach him and ask any questions. Their words were enough to peak his interest, however._

"_So you're going over there?" Troy heard Chad asked Taylor._

"_Yeah. At least for a bit. Hopefully I can get her to talk."_

"_It's not like Gabs to just walk away from something like she did," Chad told his girlfriend._

"_Chad, I think there's a lot more behind what happened before she left than we realize. I hope that between me, Ben, and Jerry, we'll get to the bottom of it."_

_Troy sat up further in his seat, trying to hear the rest of what they were saying. Unfortunately for him, once they reached the gate, the couple was out of earshot. As he sat up, the chair hinges creaked and he cringed, hoping they didn't hear. Unfortunately for Troy, they did hear and he watched as the two of them paused and Chad took a quick glance over his shoulder. When he brought his head back around, he leaned down to whisper something in Taylor's ear. Once Chad stood back up to his full height, Taylor took a peek over her own shoulder, meeting the blue eyes that were watching them, before breaking the gaze and looking back at Chad and nodding her head. Troy watched in silence as Chad opened the gate and the couple walked out into the darkness of the parking lot. _

_It didn't take Troy long to make up his mind. As Chad and Taylor both left the employee parking lot and drove in the direction of town, Troy jumped up from his seat by the pool and walked in the direction of the parking lot himself, not really sure what he was going to do once he reached his destination._

* * *

Once Troy pulled up to Gabriella's house, he decided to park a little bit down, in case her mom looked out the window and noticed his rusty white truck. He snuck out, praying silently that the driver's side door wouldn't decide that this particular moment would be a good time for it to creak, as it often did. He spotted Taylor's Ford Focus in the Montez's driveway, and he also noticed that the living room light was on, alerting him that Maria was watching tv and he made a mental note to avoid the left side of the house.

_This is going to be trickier than I thought, _Troy thought to himself. Finally deciding to just do it and get it over with, he took a deep breath and started walking to the right side of the house and around to the backyard. He jumped the white fence, careful not to make any noise, and crept slowly in the direction of Gabriella's balcony. The closer he got, he was able to hear the voices of the two girls up above him, drifting down from the open French doors to reach his ears. He quickly crouched down and hoped he was successful at hiding himself.

"_Seriously, though, Gab. Do you really feel like this is the end?"_ he heard Taylor's voice first, followed after a moment by Gabriella's.

"_I don't know, Tay. All I know is that I love him. This was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, which is why this hurts so much." _

Troy felt his heart break all over again as he realized how much she had been hurt at his expense. He felt a pang of guilt run through him, still somewhat unsure as to why exactly. He felt himself getting lost in his thoughts, but something that Taylor was saying quickly caught his attention and brought him back to the present.

"…_but Mr. Fulton has a meeting with the planning committee for the talent show tomorrow morning and I have to be there. I'd better head home so I can get to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at work."_ Feeling like he heard enough, Troy stood from his position and just as quietly as before, started making his way back around to the front of the house. Coming to a stop next to Taylor's car, he waited for the girl who had come to be almost like a sister to him through the relationships she shared with both his best friend and girlfriend. It wasn't but just a moment or two before he heard the front door open and then close, and heard the footsteps as they approached the car where he was standing. As she got closer, Taylor reached in her bag to get her keys out before looking up, and stopped walking when she saw Troy standing there in front of her. The two just looked at each other for a moment, neither knowing who should be the first to start the conversation. Finally Troy broke the silence.

"How is she doing?"

"Troy-"

"Taylor, seriously. I know I've been kind of out of it lately and not paying attention to everyone-"

"Kind of?" she asked. When he simply looked at her and she saw all the pain that was evident in his eyes, she realized that he was being sincere. "I'm sorry. Continue," she told him as she walked closer.

"Taylor, I don't exactly know what happened. I do know that I'm responsible for it, but I don't know how. Would I be correct in assuming that I have some serious soul searching to do and that I need to figure it out on my own?" Taylor didn't respond; instead she just rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Troy, I know that you're hurting. And while it's not my place to butt in, I will tell you that Gabriella's hurting, too. She's not at her best right now."

"I still love her, Taylor," he told her, searching her dark eyes with his blue ones, hoping that she would believe his heartfelt confession.

"I believe that," she said, after a moment of studying his eyes. "And eventually, she'll know it, too."

"Do me a favor, please?"

"What's that?" she asked, genuinely curious as to what his request would be.

"Don't let Gabriella know that I was here."

Taylor paused, considering his request, and shook her head before telling Troy "I won't."

Upon hearing her confirmation, Troy turned on his heel and walked back to his truck and climbed in. He waited until he made sure Taylor was safely in her own vehicle and that it started before he drove back home. Once he was ready for bed, he climbed in and- for the first time in months- held the stuffed basketball that Gabriella had given him on the day of the Twinkle Town auditions.

_It doesn't smell like her anymore…_ That was the last conscience thought he had as he drifted off to sleep.


	2. The Morning After

_**Allow me to take a moment to say that I'm steadily working on future chapters, but I've got a really crazy schedule for the next 3 weeks, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to upload new chapters. I wanted to get this one out before things get to crazy for me. I will try hard to get the next 1 or 2 chapters uploaded, but please be patient with me!**_

_**A huge thank you to Anna for your help not just on this chapter, but on this story in general. I greatly appreciate all you've done!**_

**_As usual, I own nothing mentioned in this chapter. I really hope you enjoy and I'll be back soon!_**

**_PS... have you seen the 'Beastly' trailer yet? Check it out if you haven't! It's beautiful!_**

_**Chapter 2**_

It was 10:15 AM when Gabriella was rudely awakened by the sound of "The Hairbrush Song" from _Veggie Tales_. She immediately recognized it as the ringtone designated for the guy who'd been like a brother to her in the past six months. Not really wanting to, but feeling like she should, Gabriella fumbled around on her night table until she felt her phone under her hands and answered it, tiredly and grumpily.

"What do you want?" she asked groggily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have dialed the wrong number. I'm looking for a beautiful ray of sunshine who sometimes can be referred to as 'My Little Sugarbunch'. Can you tell me where might I find her?"

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at the nickname Chad used for her when he was picking on her- which got way overused, if her opinion mattered at all! Thinking back, she couldn't remember where the nickname came from, but she couldn't help but smile whenever she heard it. It was for that reason that Gabriella knew Chad used it at that moment. It always seemed to cheer her up, even if it was just a little bit, regardless of the situation.

"What's up, Chad?" she asked with a smile.

"I just heard a nasty rumor about you and I need you to set it straight and tell me that the person spreading said rumor is wrong. Tell me you did not break up with my boy Troy," he demanded.

"'Your boy Troy'?" she repeated. "But I thought you two-"

"Gabs, one thing you don't know about us. We always have a thing every few months or so, but the longest it's ever lasted has been about a week. He'll always be my brother and I'll always care about what happens to him, good or bad, and I'll always be there to help him pick up the pieces."

"Wow, that's deep for you, Chad," she teased her friend.

"Anyway, as I was saying," he continued, ignoring her teasing remark, "I know Troy's not himself right now and I know it's all because of the influence of a certain blonde-"

"Thank you so much, Chad, for the reminder!" Gabriella exclaimed loudly, interrupting him. "I knew I could count on you to bring it all back to the front of my mind."

"I'm sorry. What I meant to say was that I know for a fact that he never meant to hurt you. I guess the timing of everything just got in the way. He's been working his butt off for a scholarship and Sharpay pretty much dropped one right in his lap. It's just like her to go and pull some crap like this. She knows it's about the only way he'd ignore his team…and bonus for her, he's bumped you too. And the bad thing is, he doesn't even realize it."

"It sounds like you've been thinking about all of this yourself."

"Yeah, well, when someone isn't talking to their best friend, they have nothing left to do but sit, think, and figure out what happened between the two of them."

"Do you realize how much of a girl you sound like right now?" she couldn't resist teasing him yet again. He chuckled and then sighed. After a pause, she continued.

"Chad, what happened?" she asked her 'brother' seriously.

"Well, it's just like Tay told me you told her last night. He ditched me. I was sick of his excuses for everything and called him on it, and he got pissed. He couldn't take the truth."

"Chad, I'm sorry you got dragged into all this."

"Please, girl! I drug myself into it. I'm still a team player, Gabs. Yeah, Troy's been an ass, and I can take that. But even I can see it's hurting you and I can't take that. As much as he's my brother…well, you're my sister and he's messed with you. I'm looking out for you and I can't take that." Chad paused, letting his words sink in. As soon as he realized what he said, he tried to backtrack. "Wait, that kind of sounded gay didn't it? I'm sorry."

"I know what you meant," she reassured him with a slight giggle.

"Okay, good. Now, change of subject. Are we still on for tonight?" Chad was referring to their weekly double date of pizza and a movie at one of their four houses. The two couples had been doing this for about two and a half months and would rotate houses each week. This week was Taylor's week.

Gabriella softly sighed as she thought about her answer. "I'll let you know. I'm not sure yet if I feel much like going out."

"Okay, I understand. I'll let Taylor know and we'll check with you later. I better run. I've gotta get back to work. My break is almost over. Talk to you later?"

"Of course. Hey, Chad?" Gabriella called out trying to get his attention before he hung up.

"Yeah?"

"Is he there?" she tentatively asked.

"Yeah. Yeah he is. He doesn't look good, if that's the information you're fishing for. I don't even think he shaved this morning, believe it or not!" Chad said.

Gabriella gave a half smirk at Chad's attempt to crack a joke and make her feel better. "That's not like him," she said, referring to Troy's crazy obsession with his appearance. "Okay," she said softly after a brief pause. "I'll talk to you later. Bye, Chad."

"Bye, My Little Sugarbunch!" he said, trying to leave her with a smile on her face before hanging up.

Gabriella hit the end button on her cell phone and sighed. After a moment, she got up to get in the shower and get ready to face the day. While standing under the steady stream of warm water, Gabriella became lost in her thoughts.

_Well, I guess I have a day off now_, she thought to herself, with slight bitterness. _What am I going to do today? Mom's probably at work, so I'm on my own._

As she finished her shower and dried off, she found a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts and a matching shirt and slipped them on, with her Rainbow flip flops. She decided to leave her hair in its natural waves, but still pulled it back in a loose ponytail to keep if off her neck on this hot Albuquerque day. After putting on just her basic make up of foundation, blush, powder, and mascara, she made her way downstairs and was surprised to see her mom at the kitchen table with her laptop in front of her and papers scattered around her.

"Mom?" she asked, shocked to see her sitting there. "I'd thought you'd be at work today?"

"Good morning, Sweetheart," Maria greeted her daughter, as she took off her glassees and looked up to fully take in Gabriella's appearance. "I called in this morning and told them I'd work from home today. I thought I'd stick around here and see if you needed anything."

"Oh. Well, thank you, I think."

"Do you work the late shift today?" Maria asked, watching with interest as Gabriella froze in her movements before quickly recovering.

"Um, no. No, Mom, I'm, uh- I'm off today," she fibbed to her mom, biting her bottom lip in the process. Maria picked up on her daughter's tell tale sign of her fib and chose to let it slide for the moment. _We'll discuss that later_, the older Montez thought to herself.

"I came up shortly after Taylor left last night to check on you and you had already turned off your light. I didn't want to disturb you," Maria told Gabriella, as her daughter reached in the cabinet to pull out the cereal and then turned around to the cabinet behind her to get out a bowl.

"Everything's fine, Mom," Gabriella said, expressionless, for what felt like the umpteenth time in the last fourteen hours as she reached in the refrigerator and got the milk out.

"I know it is." Maria watched her daughter with interest wondering how she could get her to open up about the apparent break up. Maria liked Troy. She really liked Troy. He was polite, caring, smart, had a good sense of humor, not to mention his good looks; he was everything that a mother would want in a boyfriend for her daughter. Whenever he came to pick up Gabriella for one of their dates, he went out of his way to spend several minutes talking to Maria while waiting on his girlfriend. She had formed a great relationship with his parents as well. But no matter how much Maria liked Troy, Gabriella was still her little girl and if he had done anything to hurt her, he'd have to answer to Maria. But she'd have to get the answers first, before she went and followed through on the silent threats that she hoped he had picked up on during those times when he had frequented her home. Maria sat back in her seat observing Gabriella as she sat on one of the stools at the bar and ate her Honey Nut Cheerios in silence and suddenly she got an idea.

"Gabriella, how long before school starts?" she asked, regardless of the fact that she very well knew how long was left in the summer.

"Just under four weeks, Mom," Gabriella answered her mother. "Why?"

"I just thought we'd make today an 'us' day. What do you say?"

Gabriella chewed the mouthful that she currently had and swallowed before turning around to face her mom. "I think I'd like that, Mom. We haven't had one in a while. What'd you have in mind?"

"I don't know. Maybe go to the mall and get you some clothes for school. We need to start doing that soon anyway and there's no time like the present, right?"

"What about the back to school sales we always go to? Tax free weekend?"

"Well, I think today is a good day to get out of the house. We can avoid the tax free crowds just once. What do you say? Are you up for it?"

Gabriella put the last bite of her cereal in her mouth and thought about what her mom said before responding. "I'm on to you, Mom," she told Maria, pointing the spoon in her mother's direction. "I know what you're doing. But you know what? You're right. Let me just run upstairs and brush my teeth and grab my purse. I'll be right back." After she rinsed her bowl and put it in the dishwasher, Gabriella went upstairs into her bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth, splashed on a dab of her Bath and Body Works White Tea and Ginger perfume, slipped on a pair of earrings and her class ring, and grabbed her Vera Bradley purse and went back downstairs to meet her mom. As she was halfway back down, Gabriella had a thought.

"Hey, Mom?" she called out.

"Yeah, Gabi?"

Gabriella turned the corner to enter the kitchen where her mom was waiting on her by the garage door and took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that you're hoping today will help me relax and tell you about what happened."

Maria opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it, realizing that she was busted.

"Mom-" Gabriella said warningly.

"Okay, Mija. Okay. Maybe I did think that we'd be able to talk about what happened with you and Troy. I'm sorry."

"Mom, I agree with you that we need an 'us' day, but only on one condition," Gabriella told her mom as if she were the parent and her mom the child.

"What's that?"

"If we start talking about what happened- I said '_IF_'" Gabriella rushed on when Maria made an attempt to interrupt her. "If we start talking about what happened, it will be brought up by me. I'm just not ready to really talk about it, Mom, but if I feel like I am…"

"You'll start the conversation. I got it," Maria told her. "I love you, Mija, and I care about you. If you're hurting, I want to help you through it."

"I know, Mom, and I love you, too. I know you want to help, but I'm just not ready right now."

"Fair enough," Maria told her as she wrapped her arms around her daughter in a motherly, comforting fashion. "But I just have one question that I have to know the truth about. Gabi, please promise me you'll be honest about this."

"Um… Okay. What is it?"

"Did he hurt you?"

"What do you mean, Mom?" Gabriella asked nervously. She had a feeling that she knew what her mom meant, but she didn't want to allow her mind to go there.

"Did he _hurt_ you, Gabi? Physically?" Maria asked, with a bit more force behind her words.

"No, Mom, he didn't," Gabriella answered emphatically. "Please don't think that about him. Regardless of what did happen, I do still love him and he's not that kind of person, Mom. He didn't lay a hand on me- ever. Well, not in that way, anyway."

Maria studied her daughter and noticed the look of determination on her face and the tears in her eyes. "Okay, Sweetie. I believe you and I'm sorry I thought that. I just had to ask. As a mom, I just had to ask. I hope you understand." Maria reached up to play with one of the curls that Gabriella had left out of the ponytail to let hang free and tucked it behind her daughter's ear. "Forgive me?" she asked.

Gabriella gave her mom a small smile and nodded her head. "Yeah, Mom, I do. I understand. You're just looking out for me, that's all. Now, let's go. American Eagle awaits."

With that, the two Montez women made their way out the door and settled in the Odyssey, ready for a very much deserved Mother/ Daughter day of shopping.

* * *

After Chad hung up the phone from talking to Gabriella, he looked in Taylor's direction. She was currently standing on the other side of the pool with Mr. Fulton, who was walking around with Mr. Evans discussing the details of the talent show which was being held the following week. When Taylor felt eyes on her back, she turned around and spotted Chad looking at her. He waved his phone up in the air and she nodded. He looked back down at his Razor and quickly typed in a text to his girlfriend.

_Just talked to Gabs. She's worried about him… typical._

He watched as Taylor reached in her pocket and slowly pulled out her phone, careful so as to not be noticed by Mr. Fulton. She read the text from her boyfriend and quickly typed a response.

_Of course… she still loves him! U should have seen her last night. What'd u tell her?_

_That he looks like crap! U should see him Tay. It's bad,_ Chad responded.

"Miss McKessie?"

Taylor jumped, quickly shoving her phone back in her pocket and hoping he didn't notice. "Yes, sir?"

"Mr. Evans and I need to go into the office to discuss some details. Why don't you go take a break and I'll meet you in the kitchen in about fifteen minutes?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Taylor wasted no time rushing off in the direction of the patio to meet Chad. Looking down at her feet, she didn't notice as she slammed into something hard. She quickly brought her eyes up level and noticed that it was a person in front of her.

"I'm so sorry," she quickly apologized, not paying attention to who was standing in front of her.

"Taylor, it's me," the quiet voice spoke up.

"Troy," she said with a sigh. She slowly brought her eyes up and for the first time, took in his appearance. His shirt was untucked, his nametag was crooked, he was unshaven, he had bags under his eyes, and his hair was a mass of pure chaos. "Wow," she said softly, but not soft enough that Troy was unable to pick up on her shock.

"That bad, huh?" Troy's voice matched his appearance – rough. "I'm a mess, I know."

"I see that," Taylor said, not caring about the sarcasm that was evident.

"I was uh, just on my way to the…" he said, letting his voice trail off as he pointed to the kitchen.

"Yeah, me too. Excuse me." She gently pushed her way past Troy and continued her walk to the kitchen, where Chad was waiting for her by the door. As she got closer, her boyfriend put his arm around her shoulders and led her inside, letting the door close quickly, ignoring the fact that Troy was a mere ten feet behind them.

Chad led Taylor over to the corner near the time clock and continued their conversation.

"Anyway," Chad started, "I told her that he wasn't doing well today. He was late, Tay! When I was making the breakfast rounds out on the patio, he wasn't out at the driving range. The morning class was waiting on him when he pulled up in his golf cart!"

"Did you ask Gabriella if she's coming tonight?" Taylor questioned him.

"Yeah, I did. She said she didn't know. She wasn't sure if she felt like going out or not and that she'd let us know."

"Everyone, attention please!" The young couple was interrupted by Mr. Fulton's voice as he entered the kitchen. They came from the other side of the wall to join the rest of the group as everyone gathered around to hear what their boss had to say. Out of the corner of his eye, Chad noticed as Troy snuck in the door and stayed about twenty feet from the crowd, off by himself, looking at the floor, shuffling his feet, and his hands in his pockets. Chad couldn't help but notice how completely uncomfortable he seemed, but was brought out of his thoughts as Mr. Fulton continued.

"I have an announcement to make. Some of you may have already heard, but for those of you who have not, let me confirm that we do indeed have a new lifeguard starting tomorrow." Mr. Fulton stopped talking when all the employees around him began whispering, wondering why Lava Springs would need a new lifeguard. Chad took that moment to look at Taylor's face, trying to read her expressions, silently questioning what his girlfriend knew. She, however, just shook her head and brought her fingers to her lips and slid them across in a zipping motion, not letting any information leak out, not even to Chad. The employees didn't have to wonder for long, as Mr. Fulton quickly lifted his hands to quiet them down so he could continue.

"For your information, Miss Montez has quit and is no longer available to us."

The whole room immediately buzzed again, everyone looking at Troy for an explanation, unaware of his current relationship status with Gabriella. Troy- hoping to avoid all the questions- simply turned around and walked out of the kitchen, leaving everyone with their questions unanswered. He was in no position to answer their questions when he didn't even have answers himself.

He made his way back to his golf cart, climbed in, and drove back out to the driving range, lost in his thoughts. _I know Taylor knows something. How can I convince her to tell me what's going on? Why did she quit? She never quits at anything!_ He let out a frustrated sigh and slammed his fist against the steering wheel of the golf cart. He made a silent promise to himself that no matter what it takes, he will somehow get the answers he needs.

* * *

Back in the kitchen, after Mr. Fulton gave the rest of the announcements that were on his list and left, everyone immediately turned their attention to Taylor.

"Taylor, what's going on? Gabriella quit and Troy looks like a hobo. There's something going on, isn't there?" Zeke asked.

"Guys, something is going on, but it isn't my place to say. I will tell you that I went to see Gabriella last night after I got off. She and Troy had a thing and that's all I feel like I can say without betraying her trust. I really can't give details because they're not my details to give."

"But is she okay?" Martha asked, genuinely concerned about her friend.

"I talked to her this morning, guys," Chad spoke up, "and no, she's not doing so well. I think she was trying to put on a front to make me think that she's okay, but I can see right through her. She's…" Chad let his voice trail off, shaking his head.

"Look, guys. I don't think she was really ready for anyone to know, so don't go around talking about it. She just needs time to sort everything out right now. I think the least we could do is give her that," Taylor told the gang.

As they listened to Taylor, everyone agreed and then separated, heading back to work. Chad and Taylor also said goodbye, but promised each other that they would do whatever it took to convince Gabriella to come to Taylor's house that evening. Both agreed that their friend needed some cheering up time and they would go out of their way to do whatever it took to accomplish that goal.


	3. Love?

_I'm so proud to call adcgordon my co-author on this one! Your ideas brought this so much further than where it was! Thank you! I hope everyone enjoys!_

_**Chapter 3**_

"Troy knows you quit." Gabriella pulled the phone from her ear momentarily as she pulled the dress over her head in the fitting room. Bringing the phone back to her ear, she took a breath, calming her nerves over the direction that she could sense the conversation was heading while the person on the other end sat down on one of the comfortable patio chairs out by the pool during her break.

"What do you mean he knows? How'd he find out, Tay?"

"Mr. Fulton came in the kitchen this morning. We had a junior staffer meeting and he told us then about the new lifeguard. Troy was in there for some reason." Taylor paused as she heard the background noise coming from Gabriella's end of the phone. "Where are you?"

"Kohl's. Mom and I are out shopping."

"Retail therapy?"

"Of course. Gotta love Maria, right? She knows how to make me feel better!" Gabriella told her best friend with the first genuine smile on her face in almost twenty-four hours. "Between shopping and brownies, Mom always knows what I need!"

"Gabi, are you okay in there?" Maria stuck her head in the hallway of the fitting rooms, calling out to her daughter.

"Yeah, I'm okay Mom. I'll be out in a minute," she called back to her mother. "Sorry, Tay. You were saying?"

"Speaking of Maria's brownies, are you bringing them tonight to my house? You know how much Chad loves your mom's brownies." Taylor apprehensively broached the subject of the weekly date night. After the meeting earlier that morning, she and Chad decided that they would try and convince Gabriella to still come. They weren't sure how she would feel about being the third wheel, but they still wanted her there none-the-less. Hearing Gabriella softly sigh on the other end, Taylor feared that she already had her answer.

"Taylor, I don't think I'll come tonight. Why don't you and Chad just have alone time? You haven't had much lately, you two deserve it."

"Gabriella, we want you there," Taylor protested.

"I know you do, and I appreciate being wanted. But… You know what? I just got an idea. Why don't you talk to everyone and try and get them all together tomorrow night? We'll go out to Red Robin or something."

"You know what? That sounds like fun. Let me talk to everyone here and I'll let you know. I'll talk to you later." The two girls said their good byes and ended the call. Gabriella found herself starting to feel a little bit better about things. She had a feeling that the prospect of a group outing the next night was part of the reason and knew that it was a step in the right direction of getting things back on track in her personal life.

As Taylor hit the red end button on her Blackberry and set the alarm for twenty minutes, she shut her eyes momentarily, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on her already dark skin. She was thinking back to the most recent conversation with her best friend and couldn't help but marvel at how close Gabriella potentially was at actually being okay after all. Just as she was getting comfortable in her daily almost half hour power nap, she felt the heat from the sun disappear from her legs. Letting out a sigh, Taylor spoke before opening her eyes.

"Who dares to disturb my brief moments of rest?" she teasingly asked the offender standing in front of her with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Taylor, it's me. Can I steal you away for a few minutes?" the voice spoke up.

As she sat up on the patio chair, Taylor pushed her sunglasses up on the top of her head and took in the appearance of the person standing before her. Letting out a sigh, she stood up and started walking toward the dining room patio, which was empty at the moment. When she got about ten feet away from her original spot, she turned around and, noticing that her sun-stealer hadn't moved from their spot, she crocked her finger, letting the person know to follow her. When she reached her direction, she turned to face her offender. Letting out another sigh, she spoke up.

"Let it be known, before we go any further, that even though I knew you first- what was it, twelve years we've known each other? Something like that.- Anyway, I'm still kind of on Gabriella's side. But even more so than being on Gabriella's side, I'm even more pro- Troyella- don't ask, it was Chad's doing-" she interrupted herself, putting her hand up to stop Troy as he opened his mouth to ask the much anticipated question that she knew was soon to come. "As I was saying, I know that whatever happened between you two was more than likely a misunderstanding. More on your part, but that's another talk for another time. It would probably be a true assumption to say that you're not my favorite person right now for hurting her the way that you inadvertently did. But I still want to see her happy. And I know that you make her happy, Troy. I think that she's just going to need some time."

"I understand. But can you do me a favor the next time you see her?" he asked sullenly.

"Yeah, anything. I mean, we are still friends, regardless." Taylor watched as Troy shoved his right hand in his pocket and very slowly pulled it back out.

"Please give her this?" he requested, with his right hand still tightly fisted closed.

She opened her own hand and let the object fall into her palm. When she looked down at the object and noticed what it was, her eyes grew the size of saucers.

"Is this…?" she asked, letting her voice trail off as she looked back up at Troy, seeing him nod his head and taking full notice of the remorse on his face. "She gave it back to you?" There was no point in trying to hide the shock in her voice.

"Yeah," he started, as his voice cracked. He paused to clear his voice, hoping Taylor didn't pick up on the tremor. "She gave it back. But I don't want the necklace back, Taylor. I want _her _back." Taylor just looked in Troy's blue eyes and noticed the tears that he was struggling to hold back. He did still have a reputation to attempt to protect, after all. "Taylor, please. Help me. Just give the necklace back to Gabriella and tell her to keep it. Who knows, maybe someday she'll want to wear it again, I hope."

Taylor just looked at the basketball captain standing in front of her. She took in his haggard appearance and for the first time since the whole mess with Sharpay started and he began blowing off his friends within the past two and a half weeks, she could see the desperation and nervousness in his features. She then made a vow with herself- one that she would make later with Chad as well- that she would do whatever it took to get Troyella back on track.

"Troy, all I can say is that I promise I'll give her the necklace and to talk to her. I can't make any promises beyond that."

"Taylor, that's all I'm asking for. Thank you for that. I know it's not easy for you. You probably feel like you're being pulled in the middle or something."

"No, I just feel like I'm trying to be a friend to two of the nicest people in the world," she told him as she put the necklace in her own pocket. "I'll talk to you later, Troy."

"See you, Taylor." As Troy walked past Taylor, she turned her nose up just slightly.

"Hey, Troy?" she called out to him.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned back to face her.

"If you really want to try and get Gabriella back, you might want to, uh, clean up just a bit?" she gently suggested.

Blushing slightly, Troy just looked at Taylor and shook his head at her attempt at being discreet. He just nodded his head once before turning back around and walking off.

"Wow," Taylor breathed. "Gabriella doesn't know what's about to hit her," she said to herself, just as the alarm on her cell phone sounded. Letting out a sigh, she turned off the alarm and walked back inside.

The next evening, Gabriella was standing in her bedroom getting ready for her time out with her friends. Taylor called her back later the day before and informed her that Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Martha were on board for their night of burgers and fun. Kelsi unfortunately didn't get off until 8:00 that evening, and could possibly meet them for dessert later, but still needed to get parental permission, so she wasn't sure at that point.

The group of six met at Red Robin and once their name was on the list for a table, the greetings started. As Martha wrapped her arms around Gabriella, is finally dawned on her that it had been three days since she'd seen any of her friends, even Taylor. They all stood there waiting on Jason's name to be called- he had his name put on the list since he and Zeke got there first and his was the easiest- the guys fell into the ease of picking on Gabriella. Ever since she came to East High and started dating Troy, they had all taken to her as if she was a sister and they all picked on her as such.

As Zeke reached out to poke her in the right side- he found out the secret from Troy that her right side was her most ticklish spot and he used it often- Gabriella seemed to sense the movement of Zeke's finger and reached out to grab it in her small, petite hand and turned to face him with what she hoped was coming across as being as threatening as she meant, but was unable to hide her smirk as she pointed her left index finger in his face. Well, as close to his face as she could reach. He was still almost a foot taller than her.

"You've still got it, Montez," he told her pulling her in to his body as he gently squeezed her in a tight hug.

"Never lost it, Baylor," she picked right back, returning the hug.

At that moment, the hostess motioned for the group to follow her as she led them to their table. Once they were all settled in their seats and their drink orders had been placed, Jason spoke up first.

"So Gabriella, where's Troy tonight?" he innocently asked. Everyone at the table froze, watching Gabriella's reaction, each sharing the same thought: _Leave it to Jason to lose all sense of subtly._ Chad was the first to react as he reached out and smacked Jason across the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?" Jason asked, disbelievingly.

"Um, Jason-" Taylor started, noticing as Gabriella paled and tried to hide her face behind the menu and out of view of the others at the table. She knew that question was bound to come up at some point during the evening, and she had this gut feeling that Jason would be the one to ask it. She just wasn't prepared for it to be vocalized so soon. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and addressed her friends.

"No, Taylor, it's okay. They're all bound to find out sooner or later. Granted, I had hoped later, but I guess they need to know," Gabriella spoke up. "Um, Jason, I broke up with Troy." Jason, Martha, and Zeke all spoke up at once.

"What?!"

"Why?"

"So the Apocalypse is coming…" The other five at the table all turned their heads to stare at Jason, confusion clearly evident on all of their faces.

"Um, Jason, dude. What are you talking about?" Zeke asked.

"Well, I mean, Troy and Gabriella were like, East High's super couple or something. If they break up, it throws the whole universe out of whack, Earth is thrown off its axis, and everything is out of balance from then on, till the end of time. They just can't break up!" he cried out, on the verge of getting emotional himself. The rest of the group just stared at Jason with their mouths hanging open. No one was able to speak. Finally, Martha broke the silence that enveloped the table.

"Wow," she said, her voice marked with bewilderment. "I can't believe I'm about to say this."

"What's that, Martha?" Chad asked.

"I think that what Jason said actually made sense." The other five just laughed at the attempt to ease the tension. Just as soon as she started laughing, Gabriella stopped. She was trying to put on a front and be okay, but was finding it very difficult. Especially with the next question that Zeke spoke out loud- the one question that she was hoping to avoid.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Gabriella asked, even though she knew exactly what Zeke meant.

"You know what I mean. Why did you break up with him?"

"I- um, I uh…" Gabriella stuttered, not sure how she would answer him. As she bit her lip, her thoughts started to run rampant in her mind. What would she tell people when they asked? She hadn't even thought about that in detail yet. She just knew that she still felt a hole in her heart and she wasn't quite sure what she would do about it. She felt the all too familiar tears fill her eyes and decided that she needed to get away from that line of conversation and fast. "Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," she lied and worked her way out of the booth and headed in the direction of the restrooms in the back left corner of the restaurant. Taylor, sensing that this was a best friend moment, excused herself, too, and followed. Martha, Jason, and Zeke all looked to Chad.

"You know something," Martha announced, pointing at Chad. "Spill it." Chad let out a sigh as he reluctantly folded his menu, set it aside, and proceeded to fill his three friends in on the events of the past three days.

As Taylor pushed the door to the ladies' room open, she quietly spotted Gabriella standing in front of the sinks, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She reached into her purse and pulled out her lip gloss. She wasn't exactly sure why she felt the need to refresh it, but she did know that she needed to do something. When she spotted Taylor standing behind her, she turned around and spoke first.

"What am I doing, Taylor?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why am I here? Why am I putting on a front and pretending like everything's okay? We both know that it's not, and yet here I am, basically lying to our friends."

"Oh, Sweetie," Taylor said. "Come here." She held her arms open as an invitation and Gabriella accepted. The two friends stood in their hug for a minute, with Taylor continually reassuring her. "It'll be okay. Everyone out there loves you regardless."

Gabriella gave a small sniffle and absorbed the feel of Taylor's hand running up and down her back. "But what about what Jason said?"

"Honey, seriously? This is Jason."

"Yeah, you're right. What was I thinking?" The girls shared a laugh that was quickly cut short by Taylor.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

"What?" Gabriella questioned.

"I um, I saw Troy again today. He looks awful, Gabs. I can't even explain it to you. He just… he's not himself."

"Taylor, I really don't want to hear this. Not right now."

"I understand, but you need to hear what I'm about to say. Gabi, this is important." Taylor watched as Gabriella lowered her eyes to the floor. Releasing a sigh, she slowly brought them back up to look at Taylor's face and nodded for her to continue. "I told him that you needed time and he understands that. He feels horrible for what happened, Gabriella, and he wanted me to give this back to you." She reached into her purse and pulled out the snack size Ziploc bag that she placed the necklace in before she left home. Gabriella tentatively reached out and took the bag from Taylor's hands. She reached in and freed the necklace and held it up in front of her face. Gabriella simply looked at her, searching her face for an explanation.

"What did he say?" she quietly asked.

"He said that he didn't want the necklace back. He wanted you to have it." Taylor left out all that Troy had said on purpose. _I'm tucking the rest of what he said away for future use. I may need it soon… _Taylor watched as Gabriella re-closed the bag and put it in her own purse.

"Well, then, I guess we'd better get back to the table. Everyone's waiting." Gabriella walked toward the door and walked out, leaving Taylor still standing in the bathroom analyzing the conversation that just took place. _Wow, that was… odd. I really wish I could read her expression._ She shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the bathroom and back to the table, joining the rest of her friends.

The group had a great time. They sat and talked, laughed, and ate. It, in Gabriella's opinion, was a perfect ending to a highly emotional day. Well, a highly emotional _couple_ of days. When she got home, she went up to her room and changed into her pajamas. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the Ziploc bag that Taylor handed her earlier that evening. She took the necklace out of the bag and held it up in front of her face for the second time that night. She reached out and gently fingered the small red stone that sat in the corner of the 'T'. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached up and fastened the clasp so that the necklace sat around her neck once again. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, taking in the sight of the necklace as it sat in what she truly thought of as being its rightful place. _Who am I kidding?_ she thought to herself. With a huff, she unhooked the necklace and took it off. She opened up her jewelry box and laid the necklace so it rested on the black velvet lining inside. She finally realized what she had to do.

Releasing a sigh, she made her way out her bedroom and back down the stairs, and to the door of her Mom's office. She raised her hand to knock on the open door. Maria glanced up from her computer where she was putting together a business plan for her meeting on Monday and noticed Gabriella standing there.

"Hey, honey. Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah, I did actually. Are you busy?" Gabriella held her breath, half hoping that Maria would say yes, and the other half hoping that her Mom would say no. She knew she needed to talk to her mom, but she wasn't sure if she was ready or not. Her readiness all depended on the answer to that one question.

"I am, but I've actually reached a good stopping point and can afford to take a break. What did you have in mind?"

"You want some ice cream?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure, come on." Maria stood and walked from behind the desk. She put an arm around Gabriella's shoulder and the two of them walked into the kitchen together. Gabriella reached into the cabinet and pulled out two bowls, followed by two spoons while Maria got out the ice cream and began to scoop two scoops into each of the bowls. The two Montez women sat down in the bar stools and exchanged idle chit-chat. Until Gabriella suddenly changed the subject.

"He's changed, Mom," she said, as she proceeded to pick at her ice cream. "I mean, it wasn't just the big things that everyone noticed. You know, like missing dates, his attitude had changed, all that kind of stuff. It was the small things, too. He hadn't called in about a week before all of this started, he would barely touch me during our breaks at work… it all just got to be too much. It was like he was a whole different person. Almost a stranger, even. I mean, I know he wants that scholarship and all, but does Sharpay have to be the one to basically give it to him on a silver platter? She did everything she could to get me out of the way. I guess it just got to be too much, for both of us."

As Maria sat and listened to her daughter pour her heart out, she found herself going back in time to a point in her life when she, too, experienced what she knew her daughter was experiencing. _I guess I need to tell her about Diego and our relationship, but now's not the time. This is about her and Troy, not me and Diego. _No sooner did that thought pass through her mind, Maria found herself taken aback by Gabriella's next question.

"Mom, you and Daddy were sixteen when you guys met, right?"

Maria took a deep breath as she let herself be transported back in time. She looked at Gabriella and all she could see was herself sitting there talking to her own mother. Letting a forlorn smile cross her lips, she reached up to push a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear before answering.

"Yeah, we were," Maria confirmed for her.

"How old were you when you first realized that you were in love with Daddy?"

Maria was thrown for a loop with that question. She knew that Gabriella was growing up. She knew she would have boyfriends. She knew that she would have to be the one playing the role of intimidating parent- thank you, Fate, for taking Diego before it was time. But she also knew that Gabriella would be falling in love one day. She just wasn't prepared for it to be so soon in her daughter's young life.

Letting out a sigh, Maria had a feeling that she knew where that question was leading. "Seventeen."

_The same age as me and Troy_, Gabriella thought.

"You know something, Mija? I used to think that you would have a lot of guys fall in love with you and that you would suffer a couple of broken hearts along the way, but Troy may have changed my thinking on that."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked with furrowed eyebrows, her voice laced with confusion.

"Well, I think he's in love with you, too, he just hasn't realized it yet. Maybe this time apart will end up being good for both of you."

"Wait, Mom, I didn't say I was in love with him!" Gabriella rushed on, shaking her head vigorously and felt the tears begin to fill her eyes.

Maria stood up from the stool she was sitting on and put her arms around Gabriella, pulling her close. She started stroking Gabriella's hair and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her temple. "You didn't have to say it, Sweetheart. You didn't have to." As Maria turned to walk back in the direction of her office, Gabriella felt the all too familiar tears begin to run streaks down her cheeks.

Gabriella put the two bowls in the sink and ran the water to rinse them out. She then turned out the light in the kitchen and made her way back upstairs and into her room. She reached into her drawer and pulled out the oversized white tee shirt with the red EHS letters across the front that she had "borrowed" from Troy a few months ago and slipped off her pajama top, only to replace it with the EHS shirt. She walked over to her jewelry box and lifted the lid and reached inside, pulling out the necklace. Gabriella clasped the necklace around her neck and fingered the 'T', then walked over to her bed and picked up her stuffed Wildcat and made her way out onto her balcony.

Sitting down on the floor, she pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging the Wildcat closer to her in the process. She took a deep breath in and caught a whiff of Troy's Polo cologne that his mom had given him for his birthday. Gabriella had fallen in love with the smell and had insisted that he sprayed her Wildcat with it at least once every two weeks. The realization that she smell of the cologne was starting to wear off didn't help the situation.

As she sat there, she realized that letting the tears fall freely actually made her feel better. Just getting it all out felt exhilarating. And that's just what she did- she cried. She cried over her first broken relationship. She cried over her first broken heart. And she cried over her first love. There was only one question that continually ran through her mind: _What will happen when I see him again? _Part of her didn't want to find out. She was afraid she'd chicken out and not be able to speak. But then the other part of her couldn't wait to find out. It would mean seeing him and his drool worthy blue eyes once more.

After a few minutes, she went back inside and made her way to her bathroom and washed her face. She then walked back to her bed and climbed in, clutching the Wildcat close to her heart as she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Revelations

_Thank you, once again, to adcgordon! You've really been a big help through this whole story so far, especially for this chapter! Did you pick up on my shout out to our new favorite musical? I can't wait!_

_There is a conversation in this chapter that will seem familiar to all you HSMers. Please know that yes- for the most part- it was taken straight from the movie, but at the same time, I did take a few liberties and added a tiny bit to it. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! There's some self discovery going on and I can't wait to get the rest of the story up. Hopefully soon..._

_Have I mentioned yet that I don't own any of this? Well, actually, I do own this storyline I think (we never saw it on the dvd's or in the deleted scenes, so I guess it'd be safe to say that I own it!), but not the characters. Enjoy and review!_

_**Chapter 4**_

It had been three days since Gabriella's self discovery. She hadn't seen any of her friends in those days due to the fact that they had all been working crazy hours in preparation for the Midsummer Night's Talent Show at Lava Springs. She had kept herself busy by babysitting for Mrs. Ramirez, her Chemistry teacher from her first year at East High who had given birth to her first daughter that March. Mrs. Ramirez had approached her with the job offer a few days after school ended, but she had already accepted the offer from Mr. Fulton and had to turn down her favorite teacher in New Mexico. Now that she wasn't working at Lava Springs any longer, her schedule during the days was wide open.

Finally, that following Monday, when Mrs. Ramirez was off, Gabriella decided it was time to rectify the "I've not seen my friends for days" problem. After a few phone calls, she found out that- miraculously- Taylor, Chad, Zeke, and Jason were all off on the same day. None of the Wildcats could decide what to do on their collective day off, so they all ended up at the one place where they've been spending most of the time that summer- the Lava Springs Country Club. They had made no agenda for the day, just hanging out. They met for a late breakfast, then made their way to the pool, and then went to the outdoor courts for a game of "just for fun" basketball- which quickly turned into the guys lifting the girls so they could reach the hoops for slam dunks. All had a great time, meaning that the plan made by the Wildcats minus Gabriella had worked. The news of the breakup of East High's primo couple had spread throughout the group and everyone wanted nothing more than to make Gabriella laugh again.

Troy had just survived one of the longest days he'd ever had. When he got an incredible tip that morning from the parents of one of his golf students, he got so excited that he felt the need to tell someone, so he reached for his cell phone. He pushed the button for speed dial 1, only to hang up not even half way through the first ring. His good mood quickly turned sour when he remembered that for the first time in nearly six months, he couldn't call the one person who meant the world to him. The rest of the day crept by at a snail's pace for him. At the end of his shift, he went out to shoot some hoops before going home. It always seemed to help him calm down when he had something on his mind.

As he was crossing the bridge leading to the court, he heard familiar voices. He stopped when he recognized the sound of his girlfriend's laugh.

_Girlfriend? _he thought to himself with a scoff. _Who am I kidding? She's your **ex**-girlfriend. She broke up with you, Bolton. Get over it. Get over __**her**__!_

He stood there for a moment watching the scene before him. Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, and Jason were all goofing off together. One of the things he was always happy about was the way his friends accepted Gabriella when the two of them started dating, especially Chad. He had always seen Gabriella as a sister and always treated her as such. The tallest of his friends, Zeke, was lifting Gabriella in the air so she could slam dunk the ball. As the ball slammed into the basket, all five of his friends cheered.

Troy found himself dazed out, staring into space, and missed Zeke put Gabriella gently back on the ground and the group walk to the side of the makeshift court and gather up their belongings. It wasn't until he heard their laughter getting closer that he shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and noticed his friends walking right towards him and back in the direction of the club. None of them looked at him as they passed by. They just walked right past, except for Gabriella. She slowed down as she approached him and paused in front of him. The two just looked at each other, letting their eyes meet, for the first time in a week.

"Hey," Troy said softly, just itching to reach his hand out and tuck the black curl that had fallen into her face back behind her ear.

"Hi," she responded in a whisper as she felt the butterflies take flight inside her stomach. _Why am I so nervous to be around him? _she wondered.

"How are you?" she asked. No sooner did the words leave her mouth that started blushing and lowered her eyes in shame as she realized what she had just said. "Wow, that was a- a really stupid question, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't stupid. It was just a natural thing to say, I guess."

The two just stared at each other, trying hard to ignore the awkwardness. Finally, it was Troy who spoke up next.

"Look, Gabriella, can we maybe go somewhere so we can talk?"

She bit her lip, letting his words run through her mind as she considered their meaning. _He wants to talk!_ The alarm bells in her head were going off. When she realized that nothing bad could come from just talking, Gabriella opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Jason. "Hey, Gabs, you coming?" She turned to look at him just in time to see Chad smack him in the back of the head. "What?" he asked, unknowing what he had said wrong this time.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she called out. She turned her attention back to Troy. "Look, Troy, I've gotta go," she told him, pointing her thumb in the direction of the rest of their friends. "I'll see you later."

Troy stood there watching as the group walked away. He especially kept watching as Gabriella waved good-bye to them and opened the driver's door to her black Toyota Corolla and drove off. After her car was out of sight, he walked onto the court began shooting some hoops. In all his years of playing basketball, Troy always found that shooting hoops helped him to clear his head and get his thoughts in order. This time, however…

After missing the first twenty shots, a frustrated Troy gathered up his shirt which he had discarded after the first shot, keys, and ball and made his way to his truck. It quickly became clear that he was not going to be able to sort things out. When he got to his truck, he unlocked the door, only to drop the keys at his feet. As he bent down to pick them up, he caught sight of something glimmering in the sun. He reached in to pick up the item and was discouraged when he realized what it was… the clip that was holding Gabriella's hair off her face the night of their last date. He was even more discouraged when he realized that their last date was almost three weeks ago.

_Three weeks? Has it really been that long since I made time for Gabriella? Is that when things started going wrong for us?_ he thought as he climbed in the driver's seat. He pounded his fist on the steering wheel in frustration. _How could I have been so stupid?_

As he pulled out of the parking spot, he began to think of Gabriella and the relationship the two of them shared. The more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that she was right. Things had changed between them it was starting to dawn on him that he was the reason for those changes. If this was the way she wanted it to be, then Troy decided it was time for him to make sure they both had some closure. If this was really the end for the two of them- as much as it broke his heart, all he'd ever wanted was to make her happy- he knew it was the right decision. And he knew exactly what he was going to do. He just hoped she would listen.

That evening, when he got home, Troy gave a quick peck on his mom's cheek in greeting before walking straight to his room- hoping to avoid the inevitable question about how his day had gone- and turned on his computer. After waiting patiently for the computer to boot up, he logged onto his face book account, went to Gabriella's profile, and started typing. The note took a little longer than he expected as he had to keep starting over. It just wasn't going quite like he'd wanted. Just as he was pleased enough to send it, he heard his mom calling for him.

"Troy, dinner's ready! Come on and let's eat!"

_Please read this. Please don't delete it,_ he mentally told her. He turned off his computer and picked up the stuffed basketball that Gabriella gave him after the Wildcats won the championship game earlier that Spring, and laid down on his bed. He had been tossing the ball in the air and catching it for several minutes when his dad appeared in the doorway holding a plate of ribs.

"Troy, what's going on with you? You usually take these right off the grill," Jack Bolton said to his son.

"I'm really not that hungry. Maybe I've been eating too much at the club," Troy answered his father. Jack could tell that his son's mind was elsewhere. Perhaps on a certain balcony with a certain young lady? He continued the conversation hoping to get some sort of information regarding what had been going on in his son's world these past few days.

"You've hardly been out of this room in the last three of four days. Let's call the guys and get a game going!" he encouraged Troy.

"They wouldn't come even if I called," Troy told him sullenly.

"I find that hard to believe," Jack said. He set the plate of ribs down on the chest of drawers by the bedroom door and stepped down the two steps, coming further into the room. Troy put down his coveted, stuffed basketball, gathering his father's full attention.

"Dad, do I seem different to you this summer?" he asked, staring at the ceiling.

"You dress a lot better, that's for sure," Jack jokingly answered his son, walking over to the desk so he could sit down.

Troy sat up on his bed so he could see his dad better. "No, Dad, I'm serious. Maybe my friends are right. Maybe I'm turning into a jerk with new shoes."

"New shoes, not a new kid. Where is this coming from?" Jack asked, confused.

"I've been so focused on my future, Dad. I mean, Gabriella quit her job at the club, Chad won't talk to me. I don't see the Wildcats running around here much lately."

"Wait, back up. Gabriella quit?" Jack was finding it difficult to hide his shock.

"Yeah, right after breaking up with me," Troy said quietly with a hint of sadness in his voice. He didn't care about putting up a strong front for his dad.

"She broke up with you, too? That's not like her to just give up. What did you do?" Jack said, still stunned at the announcement Troy had just made. When Troy turned fiery eyes in his dad's direction, Jack knew that he must have taken a step in the wrong direction, so he quickly held his hands up in surrender, silently telling his son to continue.

"Well, she says I've changed and I guess I blew her and the others off one too many times."

"Is this about going after what you want?" Jack asked. He still was having trouble believing what Troy had just revealed to him and also couldn't quite shake the feeling that his son was also holding something back.

"Yeah, Dad, the scholarship is important. I get that," Troy snapped, turning his back on his dad.

"Hey, hey!" Jack held up his hands in defense. "Look, it's only a big deal if it makes sense to you."

"I don't even know who I am anymore," Troy said seriously.

Jack looked up and noticed Troy's basketball picture taken during the school year. He stood up, picked up the picture, and told Troy "You know what? I've known this kid for a long, long time. And I've got a lot of faith in him. He looks a lot like you."

Jack dropped the picture on his son's bed. Troy looked at it and closed his eyes, sighing. He didn't see as his dad walked around to the other side of the bed and pick up the picture of Gabriella he had framed on his bedside table and drop it next to the picture of him in his uniform. When it landed with a thud, Troy opened his eyes and looked at the two pictures, side by side.

"I'm absolutely sure he's going to figure out the right thing to do," Jack told him picking up the plate of ribs. Jack took one last look at his son with a look of admiration on his face. _He sure has been dealing with a lot on his own these past few days. Man, I hope Lucille and I are ready for him to grow up. Who am I kidding? He's already grown up. Ready or not… _Jack thought to himself, shaking his head to try and get rid of the thoughts that were floating around up in his brain. "You coming?" he asked Troy.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be in there in a minute," he told his dad while still looking at the two pictures on his bed.

Jack nodded and shut the door. Troy stood and picked up the picture of him and put it back on the shelf. He then reached over and picked up the picture of Gabriella. He walked back to his bedside table and looked at the picture longingly one last time. Before putting it back down, he said to the girl smiling back at him, while gently running a finger down her face, "Please read the message." With a sigh, he set the picture down in its original spot, turned on his bedside lamp and off his overhead light, shut his door, and made his way into the dining room to join his parents for dinner.

After leaving the club earlier that evening, Gabriella and Taylor decided on a much needed sleep over. After stopping at Gabriella's house so she could gather some clothes for the next day, the two girls arrived at Taylor's house and made their way upstairs after gathering snacks for the evening. Once they were settled in Taylor's room with a stack of movies sitting by the television, they immediately put RENT in the player first. While the movie was playing out on the screen, Taylor picked up her laptop and turned it on.

"Hey, Tay, do you mind if I check my email and face book when you're done?"

"Sure," Taylor told her. After a few minutes, Taylor was done and Gabriella was logging on to her own gmail account. There, staring back at her, was a notification from face book that she had a new message. A notification which caused her heart to momentarily stop.

"Oh no," she gasped.

"What?" Taylor asked. She looked up from the screen just in time to notice Gabriella logging onto to her face book account.

"I've got a new message," she told her friend just as her home page popped up. There, staring back at her, was her profile picture. It was a fairly recent picture of her and Troy. They had taken it together during their first week of work at Lava Springs and it was one of Gabriella's favorites. It was nothing more than the two of them just having a good time and being themselves. They were laying on the blanket that Troy had bought with them for their impromptu picnic on the golf course and their heads were close together with their bodies going in different directions, so his eyes were at the top of the picture and her's were at the bottom. Taylor's voice crept through into her thoughts, preventing Gabriella from going back in time and reliving the moment when Troy had pulled a camera from the picnic basket and held it up in the air above their heads, snapping the picture.

"A new message? Who's it from?" Taylor asked.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriella softly spoke up in answer, "It's from Troy."

Taylor just watched as Gabriella opened the message and, after a few seconds of watching her read, quickly turned her attention back to the movie. Just as Roger and Mimi were declaring their feelings for each other through one of Taylor's favorite songs- "I Should Tell You"- she heard the faint sniffles coming from Gabriella.

"You know what's ironic?" Gabriella spoke up finally.

"What's that?" Taylor asked.

"It's ironic that Roger is admitting to Mimi that he should tell her that he's secretly in love with her."

Confusion set in Taylor's mind. "Um, Sweetie, I think it may be a little bit too late for you. Your brain is apparently sleeping on you right now because that didn't make any sense. How is that ironic?"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. I guess the irony is the fact that that particular song is the one that's playing while I'm reading this," Gabriella told Taylor while gesturing to the computer screen where the message from Troy was still up.

"What did he say?" Taylor asked cautiously.

"Here, read it for yourself." Gabriella passed the laptop to Taylor and turned her attention back to the screen in time to witness Roger and Mimi's sweet first kiss full of so many emotions.

Taylor watched as Gabriella wiped a stray tear off her cheek and continued watching the movie. She then turned her attention back to the computer and started to read the message that Troy had sent to the brunette.

_Dear Gabriella,_

_I'm not sure if you'll read this or not, but it's worth a shot, I guess. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Isn't that what you always say? Or something along those lines, anyway. Let's see if I get this right; I certainly don't want to misquote you: "Troy, no matter what it is in life that you want to do, you should always at least try it. You never know unless you try. You might be surprised." Did I get that right? Well, then here I go, giving it a try. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome, but we'll see._

_I'm not sure what I want to say by sending you this note. Actually, let me rephrase that. I know what I want to say, I just don't know how it's going to come out. I've never said what's on my mind at this point in time, so if it starts sounding like I'm rambling, then I apologize in advance._

_Gabriella, I won't lie to you. The day you came into my life back at the ski lodge on New Year's Eve has so far been one of the best of my life. I say "one of" because ever since then, there have been so many other days that can __**almost**__ beat that one. The day we beat the Evans' for the roles in the musical, the post game party where we shared our first kiss, the last day of school when we unintentionally fell asleep on the couch in my den while watching movies that evening (I swear, Dad! We didn't plan on falling asleep with her laying on top of me! I think he's gotten over that by now…), that picnic on the golf course… the list of the best days of my life just goes on. However, the day we met beats them all, hands down. That was the day my life changed for the best. _

_(I'm warning you in advance-- this next part is going to sound cheesy.) The day you agreed to be my girlfriend is the day I started really living. You brought sunshine into my standard life. The only thing I had going for me was basketball. Until you. I actually couldn't wait to get to school every day, just to see you. When we both got jobs at Lava Springs, I thought that the summer couldn't be any better. _

_And then I screwed up. I lost my focus. Or rather, my focus was shifted. At first I didn't know what happened that evening when you broke up with me and gave me back the necklace. I've had a few days to realize that you were right. I __**had**__ changed. _

_I gave the necklace to Taylor and asked her to give it back to you. It's not the necklace that I want, Gabi. It's you. I've had the chance to do some thinking these past few days when I've been on my own. I don't know if you knew this or not- you probably do, I've seen all of you guys out together- but none of the other Wildcats have talked to me, either. Not Chad, not Zeke, none of them. I've talked to Taylor, but you probably knew that, too. There's been a few things that I've come to realize, but there's one main thing that keeps playing over and over in my mind ever since it dawned on me. _

_I love you, Gabriella, and it almost scares me. It's something that I've never felt before, and it honestly scares me. I know that we're young and we're not supposed to be in love- or so we're told-, but I am in love with one of the most wonderful young women I've ever met. I hope that I get the chance to tell you this in person someday. _

_I don't even know if you read this or if you deleted it as soon as you saw it's from me. Either way, at least I got to (sort of) say something that's been on my mind recently. I should have told you sooner, but unfortunately for me, it took loosing you for me to realize it. But if you are reading this, it probably scared you enough so I'll stop there. No more rambling. I do love you, Gabriella, and I wanted you to know that. Please come back to me? _

_Love,_

_Me_

As she finished reading the heart felt message from Troy, Taylor looked up at Gabriella. She was staring intently at the television screen, but Taylor could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't paying attention to the movie as it played on. She was wearing what Taylor knew to be one of Troy's t-shirts and was tightly clutching her stuffed Wildcat. Taylor got up from her desk chair and moved to sit on the bed next to Gabriella, putting her arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Well?" she asked her.

"'Well' what?" Gabriella asked her.

"Are you going to respond? And if so, what are you going to say?"

"I don't know, Taylor," she said with a sigh, as she turned to face Taylor. "I mean, I want to respond. But what will I say?"

"That you love him in return, for starters," Taylor told her.

"Taylor, I never said that I love-" Gabriella started, but stopped talking when Taylor covered her mouth with her hand.

"You don't have to say it, Girl. Everyone can see it." Gabriella's eyes grew wide as she worked to process what Taylor had just told her. She waited until Taylor moved her hand before speaking again.

"What do you mean 'Everyone can see it'?" she questioned.

"Well, it's obvious. It shows in your eyes every time his name is mentioned. The sparkle sort of gives it away. Not to mention the way you get all giddy every time he's near." Taylor just watched Gabriella as she looked away from her and stared at a spot on the wall in front of her and allowed this new bit of information to sink in. Slowly, Gabriella turned her attention back to Taylor and spoke up once more.

"Who else knows?"

"Honey, I think pretty much everyone does. Why do you think Jason took the news of your breakup so hard?" The two girls gave a small chuckle and then Gabriella said something that made the wheels in Taylor's head start spinning.

"I want him back, Tay," she said softly. So softly in fact, that Taylor had to almost strain to hear her. "I just don't know if I can do it. I mean, you say he's a mess. This email says he's changing, but I haven't seen any proof of it. I mean, what if he hasn't changed and they're just empty words because he knows that's what I want to hear? How can I open my heart up to him like that again and be sure about all of this?"

"Honey, after reading that note he wrote to you, I don't think you have to worry about any of that just being empty promises!"

"But how do I know that he's _my_ Troy again and not just Sharpay's robot?"

"_Your_ Troy?" Taylor asked trying hard to hold in her laughter. Sensing Gabriella's glare, Taylor realized the seriousness of her best friend's statement and quickly worked to calm her laughter before it got out of hand. Taylor reached out and took Gabriella's hand in her own, thinking before she allowed the next words to escape her mouth. "I think _you_r Troy is doing a lot of soul searching right now, just like you are. Sweetie, that note says a lot. Why don't you give it another day or two before you respond to him? Take time for both of you to think everything out before you do or say anything."

Gabriella nodded, only halfway listening to Taylor, but hoping that she didn't pick up on her distracted state of mind. She kept looking back at Troy's note that was still visible on the screen. His written words- "I love you Gabriella"- were practically screaming at her. Her mind was racing and couldn't slow down long enough to process them.

_He loves me, _she said to herself. _And I love him. What if-_

Gabriella's thoughts were interrupted by Taylor squeezing her hand in an attempt to make sure she had her attention. She smiled softly at her girlfriend as they both sat quietly for another minute before Taylor spoke again.

"You know, when my sister isn't talking about boy disease, she also has a pretty smart observation."

Gabriella looked at her friend as she wiped a tear from her cheek and tried to smile. "Oh yeah? What else does Teisha say?"

"She says that love's not easy. That it takes work. But if it really is love, it's worth the fight it takes to keep it." Taylor paused, allowing Gabriella a minute to process her words before continuing. "But let's not worry about that tonight. Tonight is about relaxing and just having fun. Let's put Troy out of our minds and we'll brainstorm tomorrow."

The two girls shared a hug and turned their attention back to the television and watched the rest of RENT, then turned in for the night. It wasn't long before Gabriella found herself dreaming of Troy. _I know he says he wants me back, but what if I've hurt him too much? What if he won't talk to me?_ Somehow though, deep down, she doubted that would be the case. Taylor watched for a minute as Gabriella drifted off to sleep and she heard her friend mumbling something. She leaned in a little closer see if she could make out what was being said and smiled to herself as she heard one line coming from a sleep talking Gabriella who was holding tightly to the stuffed Wildcat.

"Troy, it is worth it."


	5. Plotting and Plans

_Well, everyone, I'm back. I had to take a time out myself. I had too many ideas running around in my head and had to take time to release them. Thanks for being patient! If you haven't yet, go back and read "And the Winner Is..." when you get a chance. "Brownie Points" by adcgordon goes along with it, so read "Winner" first then read "Brownie Points". Okay, shamless plug finished. On with "Time Out"..._

**Chapter 5**

The next morning, Gabriella woke to sun streaming in through the slits of the still closed blinds covering the window. She slowly gave in to the state of consciousness and looked around the room. Confusion set in as she began to wonder where she was. When she saw the framed picture of Chad on the bedside table, her whereabouts dawned on her as she remembered the sleepover that she and her best friend had the night before. She also began to remember the events of the night before- the note from Troy that she received on Facebook, the talk she and Taylor had shared, they way she inadvertently admitted to Taylor her feelings of love, the dreams she had in her sleep that were filled with Troy. She felt the all too familiar tears begin to form as she threw her arm above her forehead, covering her eyes. Why can I not stop crying over him? she wondered in frustration. It was then that she heard the voice coming from the walk in closet on the other side of the room. She slowly crept out of the bed and tiptoed to the closed closet door, wiping her eyes on the way, and pressed her ear to the wood, straining to make out what was being said.

"Chad, I'm telling you. She loves him. She said so herself."

When Taylor paused, Gabriella took a deep breath as the realization hit her that she was the topic of their conversation. So they've been talking about me behind my back? For how long? she wondered. Gabriella turned back around and walked over to the corner where her bag was. With her back to the closet door, she grabbed up her clothes that she had discarded the night before and threw everything in her overnight bag. When she heard the closet door open and close again, she paused in her actions, glancing at Taylor over her shoulder. When Taylor saw that her houseguest was packing, she immediately came to stand in front of her friend.

"Gabriella, what are you doing?"

"I'm going home, Tay."

"Why? What's that matter?" Gabriella paused in her actions and turned to face Taylor.

"Is this what you two do?" she asked with her hands on her hips, the hurt evident in her chocolate brown eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked, her voice laced with confusion.

"I heard you talking to Chad," she told her, pointing to the phone. Taylor was quick to pick up on the irritation in her voice.

Taylor shook her head and brought eyebrows closer together in uncertainty.

"Um, okay?" she asked tentatively.

"Taylor, what we talked about last night was private. My admitting to you- well, sort of admitting to you- that I love Troy was not a sign for you to blab it to anyone! Least of all Chad!"

"Gabriella, I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said anything to him with out talking to you first," she took a step in Gabriella's direction before continuing. "Gabriella, look. Chad and I just want to see you two happy again. We've been trying to come up with a way of getting you two back together. I'm sorry about telling him what you and I talked about last night, but we think we might possibly have an idea. We just need to talk to Ryan and I think if it all works out-"

"Whoa! Hold on! Talk to Ryan? Taylor, how many people need to be involved in this plan you two have come up with?"

"Well, that's just it. We haven't exactly gotten anything concrete yet, but I think- if everything goes as we possibly imagine- you may need to, um, comebackforthetalentshow." Taylor's nerves took over, not sure how Gabriella would react to this bit of news. Gabriella noticed as Taylor lowered her eyes and began to trace imaginary patterns on her comforter. She took a tiny bit of pity on her friend and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"What?" Gabriella asked, fighting to stay calm.

"You um, may need to come back for the talent show," Taylor said slowly. Her voice was almost a whisper and Gabriella had to lean in to hear.

"Come back for the talent show? What do you mean?"

"Well, that's just it. Chad and I don't know yet. This is the only idea that we have so far and don't have any details worked out. It may not pan out, but we need to make a few calls and talk to a few people first."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, picked up her shower stuff and walked towards the door of the bedroom. "I'm getting in the shower. I'll be back."

Taylor just sat on the edge of the bed, sighing as she began to process the thoughts running through her mind. Suddenly she snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. She just hoped that it all would work and everything would be right in the world of the Wildcats.

* * *

Gabriella left Taylor's and went to Mrs. Ramirez's house for a day of babysitting a three and a half month old while the rest of the group had to work. Once the gang got their collective break, they all gathered around Taylor to hear the story that she had to share.

"Okay, guys, I kind of promised Gabriella I wouldn't say anything without her knowing about it first."

"Well, then why are we waiting to hear a story that you're not going to share?" Zeke asked.

"I didn't say I wouldn't share the story. I said I wouldn't say anything." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, holding it up and waving it in the air. "So I wrote the whole story down. Chad, if you would do the honors please?"

"Why do I have to read it?"

"Because if I read it, then I'm saying something and I promised her I wouldn't say anything. This way, I'm not breaking my promise!"

"You're sneaky, McKessie," Zeke commented.

"I've been around him too long," she said, pointing her thumb in Chad's direction. "Are you going to read it or not?"

Chad sighed and took the paper from his girlfriend. After unfolding it, he began to read her version of the story that had played itself out the previous evening.

Once he was done reading, the rest of group sat in silence for a moment before Taylor was bombarded with questions as her friends all started talking at once.

"So he loves her?"

"And she loves him back?"

"This is awesome!"

"We need to do something."

"Yeah, but what?"

"Guys, guys!" Taylor cried out over the commotion around her, lifting her hands to calm down her friends. "That's what I'm having trouble coming up with. I think Chad and I need to sit down and think about this one. How are we going to get the two of them alone so they can finally talk everything out?"

"Why just the two of us?" Chad asked.

"Because we're the best friends. We have more insight to everything. You and I can see things that the two of them can't," she reminded him.

"Well, that's true, I guess," he agreed. It was at that moment that the door to the kitchen opened. Everyone turned to look, their nosiness getting the best of them all. Upon seeing Troy standing in the doorway, the Wildcats turned their backs and scattered in their separate directions. All except for Kelsi, who looked back down to the music sheets she had spread out in front of her. She felt a presence sit tentatively on the stool in front of her and looked up, only to see Troy looking down at his plate, unsure of which "side" she was on and if he could look at her without seeing the judgment in her eyes that he saw in everyone else's. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt her subtly kick him under the big silver preparation table.

"Hey," she whispered to him. He slowly lifted his eyes to see her give him a small smile and he struggled to return the sentiment. Feeling a bit of sympathy for her basketball friend, she took a sheet of paper from her pile and slowly slid it across the table to him. "I thought you should know about this."

He studied the flyer she passed to him and she watched as a stunned look passed across his features. Without warning, he crumbled up the piece of paper, threw it across the room, and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving his plate untouched and startling the musician by his actions, causing her to jump. Everyone turned to look trying to figure out what the commotion was. Kelsi gave a small shrug and smiled brazenly.

"I think I just set the plan in motion."

Chad approached her and gave her a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek. "You, Little Miss Piano Player, have no shame, do you?"

"Define 'shame'," she told the group, who had gathered around her and Chad, giving them all one of the biggest smiles they had ever seen on the face of Kelsi Neilson.

The male members of the group all gave each other high fives as the girls let out squeals of delight. Taylor and Chad shared a look and he said to her "We'll talk later and try to come up with something." She agreed and the group scattered, going their separate ways for the day.

Little did the group realize that Troy himself was taking matters into his own hands right at that very moment.

* * *

After getting the news about the talent show from Kelsi, Troy decided he needed a day to let the new information sink in. He made up an excuse and told his supervisor that he wasn't feeling well and Mike was quick to tell him to go home and rest. Now he sat in his bedroom, composing a letter to Mr. Fulton. He'd been trying to write it for about an hour now and, five drafts later, was still unpleased with what he'd come up with.

"Damn it! It's times like these I really need Gabi's help," he cried out in frustration, balling up his latest attempt and threw it across the room. It landed in the pile with all the others as Troy stood up from his desk and walked to his window, looking out over the backyard. He had a perfect view of the basketball half court that his parents had installed for Christmas when he was in the sixth grade. He walked outside and got a ball out of the Rubbermaid container that stood next to the brick steps and walked to stand on center court. He rolled the ball repeatedly in his hands as he stood there, staring at the net. Taking a deep breath, he positioned himself and prepared to release the ball. He'd done this so many times that he could almost make a three point shot with his eyes closed.

As the ball barely grazed the net, he released a frustrated sigh. After six failed attempts, Troy found himself so focused that he didn't hear when the back door opened and closed several moments later. He jumped a foot, startled, when he heard a voice behind him.

"You've got a lot on your mind."

Troy turned around and saw his mom standing on the court with him. She had her own ball in her hands and took a shot, following her son's lead, not surprised when she missed the basket by two feet. "You'd think after all these years that I'd be able to make at least one shot," she said rolling her eyes at her inability to play the game that had overtaken her home and her life for the past nineteen years.

"It's all in the form, Mom," he told her, taking the ball in his hands once more and trying again, this time making it.

"You never cease to amaze me with your talent, Troy. Basketball, singing, acting, whatever. I'm always proud of you."

"Thank you," he told her, as he sunk another basket and turned to look at his mom in the eyes. "But why do I get the feeling that you're not out here to just shoot hoops with me?"

"Okay, you're on to me. I'm not out here just for fun," she told him, slowly walking over to the container and depositing the ball in its home before making her way over to the patio table and sitting down. She looked at her seventeen year old son, amazed at how much of a young man he had come to be in the past couple of weeks, and watched as he made a couple more shots. Finally, he put the ball down and came over to the patio table, giving his mom a kiss on her cheek before sitting down in the chair next to her.

"What's up, Mom?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that." Troy looked at her with his facial features etched with uncertainty. Seeing the hesitant look in his eyes, Lucille continued. "Troy, it's not like you to shut everyone out of your life for whatever reason."

Troy sighed before he began speaking again. "I'm not the one who's been shutting everyone out, Mom. I'm the one who's been shut out. The team has turned on me, Gabriella broke up with me, everything's just been… I don't know, different around me lately. At first I didn't know why, but I think I do now."

"What happened?" Lucille asked slowly. The last thing she wanted was to push her son further into his shell and keep him from talking to her.

"I guess you could say that I just got too focused on the wrong thing. What I thought was important at one point in time isn't so important anymore. Well, not right now, anyway."

"Are you talking about the scholarship?"

Troy nodded his head before continuing. "Yeah. Sharpay's dad knows some people-" He stopped talking when his mom raised her hand and interrupted him.

"Say no more. Poor Sharpay. She tries so hard to do what she thinks to be the right thing, but it always come back to bite her in the butt, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but this time, it hasn't come back to bite her."

"Yet."

"What do you mean 'yet'?"

"Troy, if I know you, you've got a plan. Or at least you're working on one."

"Mom, I'm going to quit the golf instructor job. I think I want the kitchen job back," he admitted.

"What's that going to solve?"

"Solve? That I don't know yet, but hopefully if Gabriella hears about it-"

"Ah, so now it all comes out. Are you using this idea to get Gabriella back, or to try and get everything back on track?"

"Both?" Lucille smirked at her son's uncertainty. She stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder, dropping a kiss on the top of her son's head.

"I think you know what you're wanting to do more than you realize. I'm going to get dinner started. I love you, Troy."

"Love you, too, Mom," he called to his mom's retreating figure. Troy sat there for several more minutes, before getting up and moving back to the court. He spent about thirty more minutes shooting hoops and thinking. Finally, he'd made up his mind and he knew what he needed to do. He rushed inside and ran into his room, grabbed a pair of clean boxer briefs from the top dresser drawer, and went into his bathroom. He turned on the water in the shower and as he waited for it to warm up, he went to get a t-shirt out of his drawer and spotted the picture of Gabriella he had. He paused to study the look on the pretty face that he'd come to love and ran a finger across the glass.

"Soon, I hope," he whispered and turned to walk back into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he threw on his red Wildcats shirt that he'd gotten out moments earlier and got a pair of jeans out of his closet. After getting dressed and finishing his routine of getting ready, he walked out into the kitchen where his mom was busy preparing pot roast with carrots and potatoes and green beans for the evening.

"I'll be back, Mom," he told her.

"Where are you going?" she questioned him.

"Let's just say that Sharpay is about to get bitten."

"Troy, be careful. Sharpay can be very vindictive when she wants to be," Lucille warned.

"I know, Mom. Don't worry about me. I'll be back in time for dinner." Troy gave his mom another kiss and walked toward the front door, grabbing a banana and his keys on the way out the door.

When he reached his destination, Troy parked the truck and tried to gather his strength.

_This is ridiculous! Come on, Bolton, man up! You can do this…_

Slowly, he got out and made his way into the lobby of the country club. He spotted the receptionist on the phone and waved a greeting to her, pointing to Mr. Fulton's door, silently asking if he was in. She nodded and he continued on his mission. Troy took a deep breath and raised his fist and knocked on the thick, wooden door in front of him. He heard Mr. Fulton call out from the other side and opened the door, after wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans.

"Ah, Mr. Bolton. Do come in. Have a seat."

"Actually, Mr. Fulton, thank you, but I don't think this will be that long. I'll stand if that's okay," Troy nervously stated.

"Whatever suits you, Mr. Bolton. What can I do for you?"

"Um, Mr. Fulton, Sir, um, I uh, I- I kind of wanted to talk to you about my golf instructor job."

"Yes? What about it?"

Troy took another shaky breath and tried to steady his voice before continuing. "I um, I wish to step down, Sir."

"Step down? What do you mean?"

"I want my kitchen job back, Mr. Fulton," Troy told his boss, as he felt his confidence level slowly build. "This golf instructor job has been an amazing opportunity and I've learned a lot- thank you for that, Sir- but it's just not me. It's not who I am or who I want to be."

"I was wondering when you'd realize this."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fulton, but I'm a little confused. What do you mean by that, Sir?"

"I've been watching you, Mr. Bolton, and I noticed your discontent. I wanted you to realize it on your own. So you really want your kitchen job back?"

"Yes, sir. If it's still available, that is."

"It is still available, but you do realized that this means you relinquish all of your membership privileges, right?"

"Yes, Sir. I know that. That's not what's important to me anymore. What's important to me is being happy. And if that means stepping down, then so be it."

"Mr. Bolton, you've learned a very important lesson at a very young age."

"What lesson is that, Sir?"

"That happiness is more important than any job you could ever have in this life. Just because you have the job of your dreams doesn't mean anything if you're not happy doing it. May I be the first to tell you congratulations for learning said lesson and welcome back, Mr. Bolton. We'll see you tomorrow night for the talent show. You'll be working the dinner shift with the rest of your school mates." Mr. Fulton stood from his chair behind his desk and stuck his hand out. Troy took the older man's hand in his and gave it a firm shake.

"Thank you, Mr. Fulton. You won't regret this," Troy told him.

"I'd better not, Mr. Bolton. And don't forget about the attire for tomorrow night."

Troy turned to exit the office and shut the door behind him. As the importance of what he just did hit him, Troy leaned against the wall, trying to get his breathing steady as he mentally prepared himself for the next step in his plan to make things right with his friends and girlfriend.

"Give me strength for what I'm about to do," he breathed out in a whisper to whoever was listening. He pushed himself off the wall and began the journey of trying to find the one person he needed to talk to next- East High's Ice Queen herself.

He walked out to the area where the stage was set up for the talent show the next night and immediately saw her. He paused in his steps and cringed when he took in the sight of tulle and sequins that greeted him. Troy took a deep breath and slowly approached the stage.

"Sharpay," he called out to her as he got closer. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"


	6. On His Way Back

_Okay, so we left off with Troy talking to Mr. Fulton and asking for his kitchen job back. Now all he has to do is break the news to Sharpay herself. As always, I hope yall enjoy this! Please let me know what you think! Reviews, PM's, facebook, etc. (Yes, I'm on facebook. If you want to know how to find me, PM me and let me know. I'm a very friendly person!)_

_**Chapter 6**_

Troy walked out to the area where the stage was set up for the talent show the next night and immediately saw her. He paused in his steps and cringed visibly when he took in the sight of tulle and sequins that greeted him. Troy took a deep breath and slowly approached the stage.

"Sharpay," he called out to her as he got closer. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

As the blonde looked up from her position center stage and took in the sight of her performance partner approaching her, she let out a gasp in surprise.

"Troy, you're late! We're supposed to be doing a dress rehearsal with Kelsi ten minutes ago!" she greeted him, as she tore herself away from her female groupies and made her way halfway downstage to stand several feet in front of Troy. "And what are you wearing? That's not the wardrobe choice we agreed upon for you."

"Sharpay, first of all, _we _didn't agree on a wardrobe choice. _You_ decided on the wardrobe choice. Second of all, I need to talk to you. Can you come here for a minute, please? I really don't want any of the others overhearing right now."

With her hands on her hips impatiently, Sharpay just stared at Troy in shock.

"Why now, Troy? Can it not wait? We've got to rehearse for the show! Now, come on. Let's get started. We were going to run through it five times, but since you were late getting here, I guess three will have to do." She held her hand out to him to guide him to his spot behind his microphone stand. When Troy didn't move and the two participated in a staring contest, Sharpay was the first to break eye contact when she realized that he was being serious. Rolling her eyes and sighing in defeat, Sharpay moved further downstage. She leaned down on her knees so she was eye level with Troy and spoke. "What's so important that you're making us miss necessary rehearsal time? We don't have all day, Troy!"

"I just came to let you know that I'm not rehearsing with you today. In fact, I'm not singing with you tomorrow evening, either." When he was greeted by a blank, silent stare, Troy continued. "Sharpay, did you hear me? I'm not singing tomorrow night."

Sharpay shook her long blonde locks before speaking again. "Okay, well, whatever. Come on, we need to rehearse." She stood back up and turned with her back facing Troy and started walking back towards her own bejeweled microphone stand, only to be stopped by the sound of his voice behind her.

"Sharpay!" he practically yelled. He waited to see her hazel eyes looking at him once again before he continued slowly, careful to enunciate each of his words so he'd know for certain that she understood the point he was trying to make. "I said I'm not singing with you tomorrow night! There's nothing to rehearse!" He turned around, feeling he'd said all that needed to be said, only to be stopped dead in his tracks.

Without warning, Sharpay opened her mouth and out came the loudest, most blood curdling scream Troy had ever heard. He was pretty sure that it could be heard anywhere throughout the plush country club. Perhaps even all the way out onto the eighteenth hole of the immaculately well kept golf course. Everyone surrounding the stage cringed with their hands covering their ears as their eardrums were being split in two. Troy turned back around to face the stage once again.

"I did not just hear you correctly! _What_ did you just say?"

"You heard me. I'm not singing tomorrow night."

"But we're singing a duet, Troy! A duet is two people! Well, mostly me in this case, but whatever!"

"I'm an employee. Apparently employees aren't allowed to participate in the talent show."

"No. You're an _honorary member_, Troy."

"Not any more, Sharpay. I just asked Fulton for my kitchen job back," he said, shaking his head.

"Troy, there's going to be a whole table full of scholarship boosters here to see you! You can't do this to me- I mean, to yourself!"

"Then I'll be their waiter," he told her, as he moved to stand behind one of the chairs located at the table that she was standing behind. "I'm sure they'll be impressed!"

"This could change your life, Troy! Think about what you're doing!" Sharpay said in a desperate attempt to get the object of her attention for the summer to change his mind.

"I have thought about this, Sharpay. I don't like the way you've been treating my friends. And I don't like the way I've been treating them either, so I'm doing something about it.

"Troy, I don't think you realize-"

"No, Sharpay, I _do_ realize. I realize that I've let you run my life all summer long so far and I'm not letting that happen anymore. I'm more interested in what my friends think of me and what I think of myself, than the person that you've been trying to turn me into. And it's time I put a stop to it and do whatever it takes to fix whatever damage has already been done. I just hope it's not too late."

"Oh, we could all hold hands around the campfire some other time! Right now we've got a show to do."

"No. You've got a show to do. I got a kitchen to clean." Feeling that he'd said what he set out to say, Troy turned on his heel and walked away. Little did he know that all ears that were surrounding him and Sharpay had heard every word that had been shared between the two class mates… one set of ears specifically.

"Kelsi," Sharpay screamed out, obtaining the attention of the pianist, causing her to lift her eyes in surprise, "find Ryan!"

Kelsi fought hard to hide the ever growing grin as she looked Sharpay in the eyes. "With pleasure," she responded.

Frantically gathering up her sheet music, she turned and ran off in the direction of where she knew Ryan would be. Sure enough, just as she thought, she located him sitting with Chad and Taylor on the patio just off the right side of the dining room. The group of three were huddled close together, their voices almost hushed whispers. She paused as she took in the sight of the massive Sandia Mountains off in the distance and took in a deep breath. The scenery of New Mexico always took her breath away. Kelsi quickly shook her head to clear it of all thoughts of her love for New Mexico and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

"Guys!" she called out as she approached them. The trio immediately lifted their heads and took notice of Kelsi's excitement written all over her face.

"Hey, Kels. You're just in time," Ryan greeted her.

"In time for what?" Kelsi asked.

"We're trying to come up with a plan of how to get Troy and Gabriella to at least talk again," Chad told her.

"Well, stop thinking for a minute. I've got some information I think you guys will find very helpful!"

"Don't keep us in suspense, girl! Spill! What's on your mind?" Taylor asked curiously.

Kelsi gave her friends her best Cheshire grin before pulling up a chair to sit between Ryan and Taylor and placed her bag on the ground next to her feet and leaned forward with her arms resting on the table and folding her hands together as she looked at the faces of her three friends.

"Troy quit the golf pro job he had," she told them triumphantly.

"What?" Taylor shrieked, her eyes wide.

"Wait, it gets better," Kelsi held her hand up to stop her friends from asking any other questions before she was done. "He asked Mr. Fulton for his kitchen job back."

"How did you find that out?" Ryan curiously asked.

"I was just over at the performance area for today's rehearsals and Troy came in wearing jeans and a Wildcat t-shirt. Sharpay had a fit because that wasn't the wardrobe that 'they' picked out for the performance-"

"_They_ picked out?" Chad questioned with his voice laced with cynicism.

"Let me finish," Kelsi said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Chad asked, reaching up to grab her tiny hand in his bigger one in an effort to keep it still.

"Waving away your sarcasm and negativity. Now let me finish!" She paused in her story waiting for Chad to stop. When it became clear to her that he was done interrupting, she continued. "Anyway, he came up to Sharpay and told her he wasn't singing with her. He said that he didn't like the way she's been treating his friends or the way _he's_ been treating us, either. He said- let's see if I can remember this correctly- he said that he's more concerned with what we all think of him than the person she's been trying to turn him into and he's ready to do something about it." She finished telling her story and sat back in her chair, letting the new information that she just shared to sink in with the others.

"Wow," Ryan finally said, letting out a breath. "Bet that went over well with Sharpay."

"Sounds like he's starting to figure everything out finally," Taylor pointed out.

"That means he can't participate in the talent show," Chad said slowly with a hint of understanding. Ryan and Kelsi looked at Chad with their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Taylor, seeing their looks, spoke up on behalf of her lunk head boyfriend.

"Give him a minute. He'll catch up." The other three watched Chad closely as the light bulb finally turned itself on.

"He can't do the talent show! All those people from the University are going to be there! He's supposed to be singing! He's giving up on the scholarship being handed to him on a silver platter!"

"Wow," Ryan said again, shaking his head slowly, while the two ladies accompanying them giggled.

"I told you he'd catch on," Taylor said in explanation.

"No, wait! Do you know what this means?" Chad asked.

"Yes, Chad, we do. This means that Troy has done some serious thinking and is ready to turn everything around," Taylor said.

"Now the big question is how are we going to convince him to come to the talent show?" Ryan asked, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"He's working tomorrow night. At least that's what I gathered from what he told Sharpay," Kelsi informed them.

"I can try and get a copy of the finalized schedule from Mr. Fulton. If Troy is working tomorrow night, Mr. Fulton would have added his name to it," Taylor told them.

"Good, good. Taylor, you do that," Ryan told her, pointing his finger at her with a contemplative look plastered on his face. "Now, if we can come up with a way of getting Troy to still at least sing tomorrow night, I think I have an idea."

"What's going on in that pretty boy blond head of your's, Evans?" Chad asked.

"Sharpay wants to sing with Troy, right?"

"Yeah," the others agreed.

"Well, what if we can get him and Gabriella here and somehow both on stage together- not sure on that one yet, still trying to iron out all the details on everything- and _force_ them to talk?"

"I think I know what you're getting at here, Ryan," Kelsi said, looking at her watch. "Unfortunately, you and I only have about five more minutes before we're expected back with Sharpay, so we've got to make the basics quick. Basically, you're thinking of convincing Troy to still sing with Sharpay-"

"Only it won't be Sharpay," Chad continued.

"It'll be Gabriella," Taylor finished.

"Okay, so we're all agreed on the basics, it sounds like. We can discuss the details and get them all finalized later. I'd better go find out what my sister wants. We'll all talk later?" Ryan asked while standing up and getting Kelsi's bag off the ground. She followed his lead and stood as well, taking her bag from his hands and flinging it over her shoulder.

"I'd better get back to Mr. Fulton as well. Let me see if he's got the schedule for tomorrow night," Taylor told them as she, too, stood.

"Do you want me to fill everyone else in on what's going on?" Chad asked.

"No, not yet. Let's wait until we have everything in order and then we'll tell them. That way, nothing gets left out. The less people involved right now, the better," Ryan said.

"Good idea. We'll see you two later," Chad said. The four friends shared their good-byes as they separated, going their separate ways.

As Chad and Taylor were walking back towards the kitchen, the duo were approached by Mr. Fulton.

"Miss McKessie, I'm glad I found you. I've been looking everywhere."

"Well, Mr. Fulton, you found me," she joked. When she failed to received even a chuckle from their boss, she continued. "What can I do for you, Mr. Fulton?" she asked, bringing her hand up to shade her eyes from the blaring New Mexico sunshine.

"I need you to re-write this and then post it on the bulletin board in the kitchen, please. I've had to make a few changes to tomorrow night's schedule," he informed her, as he handed her a sheet of paper.

"I sure will, Mr. Fulton. I'll have it posted in about ten minutes and let everyone know to take a look at it."

"Thank you, Miss McKessie." Mr. Fulton started to walk away, but stopped, snapping his fingers when he remembered something. "Oh, and Mrs. Evans was looking for you. She needed your opinion on some last minutes details for the talent show."

"Yes, Sir. I'll go find her as soon as I finish with this new schedule," she assured her boss. She and Chad shared a knowing look and then they both looked down to study the schedule. When they got to the bottom of the paper, they both looked back up and smiled at each other.

"I guess Kelsi was right," Taylor started.

"Hoops is on his way back," Chad said with a nod. "Now hopefully the rest of Ryan's idea will work out. How are we going to get the Gabster here?"

"I'm not positive on that one just yet, but I _think_ the idea I have forming will work without a problem. Just leave Gabriella to me. After the letter he wrote her on face book, I think she's willing to do almost anything."

They changed their topic of conversation as they came to the door of the kitchen. Chad held the door open for Taylor as they entered and she made her way over to the table and set to work at re-writing the new schedule that Mr. Fulton had just given to her moments prior. When she finished, she turned to face everyone and made her announcement.

"Hey, guys, Mr. Fulton made some changes to tomorrow night's schedule. I'm posting it now, so make sure you take a look at it," she said as she pinned it up on the cork board by the time clock. She moved to stand next to Chad on the other side of the room as everyone else gathered around to study the schedule. Taylor had a knowing look on her face as the rest of the group turned around to face her. Zeke was the first to speak up.

"What's the joke, Taylor?"

"No joke, Zeke. What it says is what's really happening."

"Troy's coming back to the kitchen? Why?" Jason asked. After she and Chad shared the story of what Kelsi had told them about the confrontation between Troy and Sharpay, the whole group was left standing in a stunned silence.

"So he's been doing some thinking apparently," Martha pointed out.

"A whole lot of it, it seems," Chad told them. "Look guys, I obviously haven't talked to Troy in several days, so I don't know what's going on in his brain and why he did what he did. But I do know him well enough to know that he's probably feeling really shitty about the things he's done. I say we just wait until tomorrow night and see what he has to say for himself when he gets here."

"That means Sharpay will be singing a solo," Zeke said dreamily, with a faraway look in his eyes. "Just her, all by herself, no one else around…" The rest of the group just stared at him with a mixture of disgust and confusion on their faces. Zeke was brought back from Dreamland when he felt Chad's hand across the back of his head.

"Dude, come back to New Mexico. It's way less creepy than hanging out in Iceland with the Queen herself," Chad said. Zeke looked around and noticed the looks he was getting from the others.

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly, clearing his throat before continuing. "What about Gabriella?" he asked, turning his attention to Taylor once more.

"I'll take care of Gabriella," Taylor told the small group that had gathered. "But I will say this. Brush up on 'Everyday'. I have a feeling that we may need it tomorrow night." With that, Taylor turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the rest of the group gaping at her wondering what she was up to. They all turned to face Chad, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"I was instructed to not say anything yet. We'd better get back to work before Mr. Fulton comes in here."

Zeke and the others scattered and went their separate directions, all left with only two questions still lingering unanswered in their minds:

_What in the world is Troy Bolton up to now? _and _What does Chad know that he's not sharing?_


	7. Operation Rejoin Troyella

_Okay, yall, we're getting closer to the moment everyone's waiting for! In the last chapter, Ryan, Taylor, Chad, and Kelsi all met to get the details of their plan ironed out. Now we're about to see how that plan gets put into action... _

_**Chapter 7**_

The next afternoon just after lunch, Taylor showed up for work lugging around a garment bag flung over her arm and a duffel bag over her shoulder. Being Mr. Fulton's "right hand man" meant that she would not get the chance to go home and change before the talent show unlike her friends, so therefore she had to bring her dress for the evening and all the required equipment that she would need for getting ready.

She and Chad had gone out for pizza the previous night when they got off work. Ryan had to keep up the pretense of performing with Sharpay and Kelsi had to be there as the accompanist, so the two of them joined their friends at the nearby Starbucks for coffee after rehearsals. The hot topic of the evening was "Operation Rejoin Troyella" as it had became dubbed by Chad and the quartet soon had all the details ironed out. It was agreed that when Troy came and apologized to the group- which they assumed he would be doing soon, given his recent pattern- Ryan and Kelsi would somehow get him to learn "Everyday"- the song that the whole group of Wildcats had been learning over the past couple of weeks- and Taylor had been put in charge of getting Gabriella to the country club. Having this task meant that she had to come up with an excuse to give Mr. Fulton so she could leave for the hour it would take to get to Gabriella's house, kidnap her best friend, and still be back in time.

She spent the afternoon organizing the last minute details and helping Mrs. Evans oversee the decorating committee to make sure everything was perfect. Finally, Taylor took advantage of Mrs. Evans being engrossed in a conversation with another patron to sneak a peek at her watch. Seeing that she now had exactly thirty minutes to change her clothes and be ready for "Operation Rejoin Troyella" to get underway, she waited patiently until Mrs. Evans and the other lady to finished their conversation.

"Taylor, thank you for being patient. Shall we continue?" she asked. Without waiting for a response, Mrs. Evans began to walk away, causing Taylor to call out to her.

"Um, actually, Mrs. Evans?" She waited until Sharpay and Ryan's mother turned back to face her before continuing.

"Yes?"

"Well, um, it's just that I have to report back to Mr. Fulton for my assignments for the evening in half an hour and I still have to change clothes and get ready. May I be excused to do so?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely. Please, go on and tell Thomas I'd like to see him when he gets a moment."

"I will, yes ma'am." Taylor waited until Mrs. Evans had turned back around and walked off before she allowed the grin that she'd been holding back to spread across her face. She quickly turned and ran back in the direction of the kitchen finding Chad immediately.

"Chad!" she called out to get his attention.

"There you are. I've been looking for you."

"Yeah, I've been busy with Mrs. Evans. You know, she's really a very nice person. It's almost hard to imagine that Sharpay came from her!"

"What time is it?" he asked, reaching to grab her wrist in his hand, looking at her watch.

"It's 4:00, which means that we have exactly thirty minutes before Troy is supposed to be here for his shift."

"And once he's here and grovels like a little girl-"

"Watch it," she playfully reprimanded her boyfriend.

"Sorry. Once he's here and _apologizes_-" He paused waiting for acceptance from Taylor.

"Better," she told him with a nod of her head.

"So once he gets here and apologizes to everyone for being a jackass these past couple of weeks, you will then make yourself scarce to get Gabs, right?"

"Yeah, I've got my excuse for Mr. Fulton all worked out. That will give me exactly one hour to get from here to the East side of town to Gabriella's house, kidnap her, and get the two of us back here. Oh, don't let me forget to tell Mr. Fulton that Mrs. Evans wanted to see him."

"And while you're gone, Ryan and Kelsi will take care of Troy, right?"

"Yeah. Hey, could you ask Zeke if he can make me a sandwich real quick? I've got to get changed because I now have-" she paused, checking her watch once more- "fifteen minutes before I have to check in with Mr. Fulton."

"Yeah, I'll ask him."

"Thank you," she said as she offered Chad her cheek as he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss before she rushed into the female locker room.

"Yo, Zeke!" he called out to his team mate, walking further into the kitchen. "Taylor wants a sandwich."

After she changed into her black and white dress for the evening, Taylor set out to find Mr. Fulton, finally locating him at the reception desk in the lobby.

"Mr. Fulton!"

"Miss McKessie, are you ready for this evening?"

"Yes, sir, but you'll never believe what I did! I can't even believe it! I'm never this careless!" she greeted her boss, slightly out of breath.

"What happened, Taylor?"

"I left my clipboard at home, Sir. It's only about a half hour drive one way, and if I rush-"

"Miss McKessie, don't rush. I'd rather have you safe with your clipboard than risk your safety. Please go it and find me when you get back."

"Yes, sir. Thank you," she told him, as she turned and started to run in the direction of her car, before turning back around. "Oh, Mr. Fulton?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning back around to face his young assistant.

"Mrs. Evans asked me earlier to ask you to find her when you get a chance."

"Thank you. And be careful!"

"Yes, sir." She continued on her journey to the parking lot and for the first time that evening, felt that everything would work out after all. If only she could convince Gabriella to come back with her…

At exactly 4:28, Troy finally emerged from the men's locker room through the door that led into the kitchen. He took a deep breath and turned around to face everyone watching him carefully. He slowly approached the group, unsure of how he would be accepted.

"Guys," he started slowly.

"Bolton," Chad said. It didn't go unnoticed by Troy that the iciness which had been present in Chad's voice the past week and a half was now gone. "We heard about what went down between you and Sharpay."

"I'm more concerned about what went down between us," he told Chad. "I was a jerk."

"Yeah, you were," Chad told him, not even trying to hide the fact that the tension was still present between the two of them, even if just for a moment.

"Hey, man, brothers fight, right?"

"And they're still brothers," Chad told him. The two young men who had known each other since they were three years old gave each other a manly hug, conscious of the fact that the rest of the Wildcats were watching them. They were all taking their cues from Chad about how to react to Troy.

"Guys, I messed up your show and I'm sorry."

"Yeah, because show business is our entire lives, right?" Zeke managed to joke, as the others surrounding him chuckled.

"And Ryan, I know how hard you must have worked on this show. Making these Wildcats look good couldn't have been easy, so I apologize."

"Hey, the truth is, we've all had a lot of fun. Well, at least I have," Ryan told him, hoping to ease his way into 'Operation Rejoin Troyella'.

"Hey, you gotta see this dude play baseball!" Chad told him.

"I'm looking forward to it," Troy responded. It was at that moment that the Wildcats knew that everything would be okay. As Ryan stepped closer to Troy, everyone in the group held their breaths.

"Troy, listen, all these people out there, I don't really want to see my sister crash and burn. At least, I don't think I do…" He let his voice trail off as those surrounding him let out another chuckle. "I really think you should sing with her."

Troy took in a deep breath, contemplating what Ryan was telling him, while the rest of the group held their breaths, hoping Troy would agree to sing after all. The plan was contingent on two factors with this being one of them. If he would be in agreement with Ryan's train of thought, then all they would have to worry about would be if Gabriella would return with Taylor or not.

As Taylor pulled up in front of Gabriella's house exactly thirty-three minutes later, she said a quick silent prayer that her part of the part of the plan she was solely responsible for would work. She leaned over and picked up her clipboard that had been sitting in her car all day from the passenger seat and moved it into the backseat to make room for Gabriella. She turned off the ignition, got out of the car, made her way to the front door, and rang the doorbell. The possibility that Gabriella would not come back with her didn't even cross her mind. With the way this was to play out, Gabriella was certain to come back to Lava Springs. As Maria Montez opened the door, Taylor pushed past her and started to run up the stairs.

"Hi, Ms. Montez. Sorry I'm not stopping to talk. I'm on a mission."

"Hi, Taylor. It's okay. Are you here to pick up Gabi and give her a ride to the talent show?"

Hearing those words come from her friend's mom's mouth, Taylor stopped on her journey. "Wait, Ms. Montez, what do you mean?"

"I was hoping that something had happened to cause Gabi to want to go to the talent show. She came to me yesterday and asked me to take her shopping for a dress to wear tonight, but I was beginning to think that she wouldn't be going. Was she waiting on you to pick her up?"

"Um, no ma'am. Actually, she doesn't know I'm here. It's kind of a surprise for her."

"Well, go on up. She was reading a little bit ago, but I'm sure she would like an evening out."

"Thanks, Ms. Montez."

"You're welcome, Taylor. Just do whatever it takes to make this work." Taylor paused again on the steps and turned around just in time to catch the knowing look that Maria had on her face. Taylor gave a small smile and completed her journey up the stairs and down the hall to Gabriella's room. She opened the door and let herself in without knocking. At first she didn't see Gabriella, but spotted her sitting on her balcony with her worn copy of _Wuthering Heights_ in her hands. She came in and leaned against the doorframe of the French doors and opened her mouth to speak, alerting her friend of her presence.

"Where's the dress?"

Gabriella turned around in her seat and looked at Taylor. "What dress?" she asked.

"The dress you asked your mom to buy for the talent show," she told her as she turned to go back into the room and walked over to Gabriella's closet. As she opened the door, she immediately saw a white dress with a blue sash across the waist. Not only was it a dress that Taylor had never seen in her friend's wardrobe, but it also still had the price tag on it.

"Bingo," Taylor said as she reached in and pulled the dress out. "What shoes are you planning on wearing with it?"

"My white wedges," she said softly. "Why? Taylor, what's going on?"

"You're coming with me."

"Taylor, I don't know," Gabriella said, slowly shaking her head.

Taylor turned around to look Gabriella in the face for the first time since she'd barged into her friend's room. "Why did you get a new dress for tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Gabriella carefully questioned.

"You weren't planning on going to the talent show that last time we talked, so why the change of heart?"

"Taylor, you're not an attorney yet, so why do I feel like I'm on the witness stand being cross-examined?"

"Gabriella, there's only one reason why you would have gotten a new dress for the talent show. You were planning on coming tonight weren't you?"

"Well, yeah I was, but-"

"But what?" Taylor asked, interrupting.

Gabriella rolled her eyes before continuing. "But I can't. I mean, I want to see him and talk to him and all, but I just can't."

"Look, the way I see it, you have two options. One- you can stay here all night by yourself, moping and thinking about where you could be and what you could be doing and who you could be doing it with. Or two- you can come with me and take a chance." Taylor held the dress up and looked at Gabriella. The conflict was evident on her face as she thought hard to make up her mind. Finally, she spoke.

"Taylor, what if-"

"Don't think, just act." Gabriella lifted her eyes from the dress and looked at her friend. "Look, Gabriella, I just have one question for you. Hopefully this will help you decide," Taylor thrust the dress into Gabriella's hands and moved over to Gabriella's jewelry box and opened it, searching until she found the object she was looking for. When she appeared triumphant, she turned back around to face Gabriella once again. "Is _he _worth it?" she asked, holding up the 'T' necklace, and watching Gabriella's reaction.

While Gabriella thought about the options that Taylor had shared with her just a moment ago, she gently bit her lower lip and slowly nodded her head. She lowered her chin and looked at the floor with a single tear making its way down her cheek. Taylor put the necklace down on the dresser beside her and walked across the room to stand in front of her. She hooked a finger under Gabriella's chin and lifted it so she could look her in the eyes.

"Girl, listen. There's so much that I need fill you in on that has happened over the past two or three days. But, we only have about exactly twenty- five minutes to get back to Lava Springs. I know you want to come, so we need to go now." Gabriella instantly sprang to life and grabbed the dress out of Taylor's hands, moving into the bathroom to quickly change. Taylor then took it upon herself to grab her make up bag. The bathroom door opened and Gabriella emerged no more than two minutes later, wearing the white sleeveless dress and busily putting her hair in a stylish yet messy looking up do, holding it in place with a clip.

"I'm ready," she said, her voice shaking just a tiny bit. As the girls started to walk out of Gabriella's bedroom, she stopped. "Tay, wait." Gabriella turned back around and ran back into her room, reappearing back in the hallway in front of her friend wearing the 'T' necklace for the first time in front of other people since that fateful night when she gave it back to Troy.

The two girls walked back out to Taylor's car, calling out good byes to Maria on their way, and began the half hour drive back to Lava Springs. Taylor spent the drive back to the country club filling Gabriella in on all of the happenings of the past few days.

"So he quit his job?" she asked in disbelief.

"Not only did he quit, but he also asked Mr. Fulton for his kitchen job back." The girls sat in silence- Gabriella allowing this new bit of information to sink in before she asked a question that had been running wild in her mind ever since she got that letter from Troy on her face book account.

"What about Sharpay?"

"Oh, that's the best part!" Taylor said excitedly. "I can't believe I almost forgot about that part! Kelsi overheard him totally telling her off yesterday! He came and apologized to Chad and everyone. I'm telling you, something really hit him and whatever it was, it hit him hard! He's back, girl, I'm telling you." The rest of the drive was made in silence, with Gabriella anxious about what would be waiting for her at the country club when they arrived.

Never having been the type of person to purposefully make someone look bad- especially when they were counting on him- Troy finally made the decision to sing with Sharpay. He had promised her he would do so, after all, and he always tried to keep his promises. He grudgingly approached her dressing area back stage, not certain of that kind of reception he would receive. Troy stood off the side partially hidden by the blue curtain and observed as she had a personal battle with herself.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the… Oh, forget it!"

"How's your show going?" he said, finally revealing himself to her. Sharpay jumped in her seat, startled by the new voice and turned in her chair to face Troy.

"How's it going? Are you kidding me? My show makes the captain of the Titanic look like he hit the jackpot!"

"I'll sing with you, Sharpay," he finally told her. When she responded with a shocked look on her face, he continued. "I promised, and I always keep my promises. What was the first thing you said to me when I started working here?"

"Bring me more iced tea?" she questioned with authority.

Troy shook his head. "Think harder. We're…" he prompted.

"All in this together," she said. _Why do I have the feeling that I'm about to get myself into something?_ she thought.

"Exactly," Troy told her.

"Well, we are, so let's get out there and knock them dead, Troy Bolton!" She threw off the robe she was wearing over her costume and tossed it over the chair she was just sitting in. Troy couldn't help but notice the sudden excitement that took over her face.

"I do the show if the Wildcats do the show," he told her.

Sharpay just looked at him incredulously and told him "I just wish you were doing this for me. You're a good guy, Troy Bolton. Actually, right now, I think I like you better than I like myself." Sharpay shocked herself with her previous statement. "Did I just say that?" Shaking her head to clear it of all thoughts of her act of momentary selflessness, she jumped back into action as the old Sharpay.

"Girls! Places!"

Little did Sharpay and Troy realize that a third pair of ears had been listening to their conversation. Kelsi immediately turned and ran back to the kitchen, getting to her destination just seconds before Troy.

"Everyone, Ryan, the show's on!" she excitedly announced.

"Great, Kels! Where's the music?" Ryan asked. When Kelsi flung the sheets into his hand, he continued. "Where's Troy?" Looking around, he saw Troy come in just feet behind Kelsi.

"Hey, guys, I talked to Sharpay. Everything's cool," Troy told them, ignoring the excited, knowing looks that everyone was sharing.

"Hey, Troy, speaking of my sister, she wants you to learn a new song," he told Troy, hoping he would go along with the rest of the plan. So far, so good, but the group was not in the clear yet. Troy took a look at the sheet of music that Ryan had just handed him with a look of panic written across his face.

"'Everyday'. I can't learn a new song! I've only got a few minutes!" he exclaimed.

"Kelsi will help you with it," Ryan told him, pushing him in the direction of the music room with Kelsi following.

After quickly running through 'Everyday' two times, Troy found himself on the verge of doing something he'd never done in his life: quit.

"Kelsi, I can't do this!" he said exasperated.

"Sure you can," she reassured him.

"No, I can't," he said adamantly. "I don't know why I ever thought I could," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Who am I kidding? Without Gabriella here, singing doesn't matter anyway." He lowered his head to study the floor and was about to walk away when Kelsi caught his attention.

"Troy Bolton! Don't you dare give up!" Kelsi banged on the keys in complete discord trying to get his attention, forcing him to snap his head back up and look at her again. "I'm ready when you are. Let me know what you really want," she instructed him, crossing her arms over her chest adamantly.

"I want Gabriella back," he admitted, almost scared by the look of the petite musician in front of him.

"Then stand here, quit complaining, and learn the damn song!" she demanded as she began to play the intro once more.

When Troy felt comfortable enough with the song, Kelsi led him back to the performance area, signaling to Ryan that they were ready who then in turn told Mr. Fulton that he could continue. Troy took the spare minute before he was introduced to find Sharpay, who he wasn't surprised to find in her dressing area still.

"Hey, why'd you switch songs?"

"Switch songs? What are you talking about?" she asked him, confused.

"Yeah, Ryan said…" Troy allowed his voice to trail off as he began to understand what was going on.

"Bolton!" Mr. Fulton called, pulling him out on stage, ignoring the surprised look on Sharpay's face.

"But I didn't learn a new song!" she called behind them.

"Exactly," she heard whispered in her ear. Sharpay turned to see her brother smirking at her. She gasped as he walked away.

Troy reluctantly walked out on the stage after being introduced by Mr. Fulton and waited on Kelsi to play the introduction to the song that he'd known for a little under ten minutes, unaware of the fact that the one person he wanted to be there more than anything was in fact standing in the middle of a crowd behind all of the table that had been set up for the evening.

Seeing Troy walk out on the stage, Gabriella felt a mixture of emotions inside her. Her heart stopped and she was taken over with nerves, but she also wanted more than anything to make her presence known and be up on that stage with him once again. Turning to Chad, she quickly sought the reassurance she needed.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"The question is are _you_ sure about this?" he asked in what he hoped was an encouraging way.

As they heard Troy begin the first lines of the song, she gave Chad a small smile and took a deep breath, ready for what she hoped would lead to a reconciliation.

_Once in a lifetime means there's no second chance._

_So I believe that you and me should grab it while we can._


	8. Wishes Come True

_Well, yall, the time has come. That's all I'm goig to say. Thank you to adcgordon for all your help, proof reading skills, ideas, etc. You're amazing! I've got another story about to be started, so be on the lookout for it! I hope yall enjoy! _

**_Chapter__ 8_**

Seeing Troy walk out on the stage, Gabriella felt a mixture of emotions inside her. Her heart stopped and she was taken over with nerves, but she also wanted more than anything to make her presence known and be up on that stage with him once again. Turning to Chad, she quickly sought the reassurance she needed.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"The question is are _you_ sure about this?" he asked in what he hoped was an encouraging way.

As they heard Troy begin the first lines of the song, she gave Chad a small smile and took a deep breath, ready for what she hoped would lead to a reconciliation.

_Once in a lifetime means there's no second chance._

_So I believe that you and me should grab it while we can._

Gabriella peeked between Chad and Taylor as they stood in front of her, hiding her from view of everyone there, and saw the look on Troy's face. From her distance, she saw his eyes and noticed how lifeless they had become. She took her cue and brought the microphone closer to her mouth and, taking another deep breath to calm her racing nerves, began to sing.

_Make it last forever and never let it go_

Troy was taken aback as he heard the voice that he loved so much. The voice that he'd wondered numerous times on a daily basis within the past week and a half if he would ever hear it in this manner again. He tried to fight off the shock and curiosity that was taking over his mind and focus on the song, but was finding it very difficult. He searched the crowd for the owner of the voice that he would know even in his sleep but couldn't find her. He looked at Kelsi and saw the grin that was growing wider on her face. When she nodded at him, he continued with his part.

_It's our turn and I'm lovin' where we're at_

At that moment, he noticed as the sea of people standing behind the tables parted, and his angel appeared. It took a brief second for his mind to wonder if this was real or some cruel joke. But as she started walking towards the stage, with her focal point being only him, Troy knew that this was no joke. He walked down the two steps and came off the stage, waiting for her on the grass.

_Because this moment's really all we have_

The two continued with their duet as Gabriella continued her journey, keeping her eyes on the prize that was just mere feet in front of her.

_Everyday of our lives_

_Wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight_

_Gonna run_

_While we're young and keep the faith_

_Everyday, from right now,_

_Gonna use our voices and scream out loud_

_Take my hand_

_Together we will celebrate (celebrate)_

_Oh, everyday_

As Gabriella reached out her hand to him, Troy took that as a sign. A sign that everything would potentially be okay between them. He took not only her hand, but also a chance as he pulled her closer to him. As he wrapped his microphone free hand around her shoulders wondering what her reaction would be, he let a relieved smile take over his face as he felt her relax against him. The couple made their way up to the stage together and finished their song, being met by thunderous applause from the audience. As Troy looked out among the crowd after the Star Dazzle Award had been awarded to Ryan and spotted his parents, he noticed his mom wiping a tear from her face. He looked down at Gabriella and smiled when he caught her looking up at him with a smile on her own face.

"What?" he asked.

"What, what?" she challenged him.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I'm smiling about…" she let her voice trail off as she contemplated his question. "I don't know, to be honest with you. But it feels good." She stopped as she looked down at his parents and noticed Jack Bolton standing with his arms wrapped around his wife and the two of them watching the young teenagers. She turned back to face Troy and made sure she had his attention before continuing. "Why don't you go talk to you parents? I actually want to talk to Sharpay anyway."

Troy pulled back from the girl in his arms just enough so he could look in her deep brown eyes. "Do you have a death wish?" he joked.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she playfully smacked him in his chest and lightly pushed him in the direction of the steps of the stage. "Go," she gently ordered as Troy chuckled.

He took a few steps toward the lip of the stage and turned back around. "Gabriella," he called out as she started to walk off in search of Sharpay. He waited until she turned back around to face him before he approached her and took her hands in both of his. "Um, I'd like to uh…" He paused mid-thought and took a calming breath before continuing. "Look, you and I, we need talk."

She pulled her right hand free and brought it up to lovingly place against his left cheek and softly stroked it with her thumb. "I know, Troy. You're right, we do need to talk. And we will. Soon."

"You promise?" he asked, and she couldn't help but notice the slight panic and tremble in his voice.

She gave him the gentlest, most loving smile and told him the two words that had meant so much to her in her lifetime, and especially that summer: "I promise." As she looked deep into the most beautiful set of eyes she had ever seen, she continued. "You go talk to your parents and then change clothes. I'll go find Sharpay and then I'll go change mine and we'll meet back up by the pool in a little bit."

"Okay," he agreed and the pair reluctantly went their separate ways. Gabriella watched as Troy walked off the makeshift stage and approached his parents before going in the opposite direction. As Troy was receiving a congratulatory handshake- which turned into a manly hug- from his father, Lucille watched as a genuine smile stayed plastered on her son's face for the first time in almost two weeks. And she knew that the young lady who had not only sung with him just moments before but that had also stolen his heart almost six months ago had a lot to do with the change in his demeanor. She was grateful for the way things seemed to be working out and she intended to find a few minutes to tell her so.

* * *

Gabriella's eyes scanned the crowd searching for the one person who she wanted to see the least, almost grateful when she couldn't find Sharpay. She stood there considering giving up and not talking to her at all, but realized that this impending conversation was one that needed to be had. Rolling her eyes to herself, she made her way to the one place that she knew for certain Sharpay must be hiding. When she approached the dressing area backstage, she was only partially surprised to find Sharpay there, studying her appearance in the lighted mirror. Gabriella noticed how Sharpay jumped in surprise when she opened her mouth to speak, alerting Sharpay that she was no longer alone.

"I would have thought you'd be out front. I mean, that's where all the attention is. No one's back here to fawn all over you," she started with just a hint of cynicism in her voice.

"Gabriella," Sharpay responded, turning around to face the brunette in front of her. "Um, good job tonight."

"I'm going to say thank you because that's what you do when someone pays you a compliment, but I can't help but wonder how sincere it is."

Sharpay lowered her eyes to the ground guiltily. "Well, you're right. Partly, anyway."

"What do you mean 'partly'?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"I mean, you've actually got a beautiful voice, Gabriella. It was sincere when I said that you did a good job, but I didn't want it to be."

"Knowing you, that actually makes sense," Gabriella said with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood in hopes of easing her nerves at the same time. When Sharpay returned the chuckle, the two nemeses eyed each other warily. Sharpay found herself wondering why Gabriella sought her out, and Gabriella wondered why it was so hard for her to say what was on her mind. The two broke the moment of silence at the same time.

"Sharpay, I wanted to-"

"Gabriella, listen-"

The two girls looked at each other, and Gabriella signaled for Sharpay to continue. "Go ahead," she told her.

"Gabriella, I just wanted to say- I don't believe I'm about to do this. I don't think I have ever done this in my life.- I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Gabriella just stood there staring at Sharpay. _Did she just say what I think she said?_ She stood there dumbfounded and mute. It must have been for just a little bit too long, because she heard Sharpay calling her name and waving a hand in front of her face.

"Gabriella? Gabriella, are you still with me?"

"Um, yeah, sorry. Um, wh- what did you just say?" she managed to stutter out.

"I know, shocking, isn't it? In all seriousness, though, I guess at first I did mean for things to get a little messed up between you and Troy, but I didn't intend for them to get as far out of hand as they did. At least I don't think I did. I guess I was just-"

"Thinking about yourself?" Gabriella finished for her. Without waiting for a response, she continued. "Look, Sharpay, that's why I came to find you. I wanted to talk to you about all of that."

"You did?" When Gabriella nodded, Sharpay continued. "Why am I suddenly scared?"

"Oh, don't be scared, Sharpay. You've spent your whole life speaking what's on your mind. Well, now it's time to be on the receiving end and see just what it feels like. Sharpay, you and I have without a doubt had our differences in the six months since I've been here in Albuquerque. And if I know you like I think I do, you've probably had differences with almost everyone in your life. Sharpay, I kind of wanted to be your friend when I first met you, until I got to know you. I've never been one to say something like this to anyone before, but I think it'd be safe to say that I not only don't want to be your friend, but I would really like you to stay out of mine and Troy's life. Now, I know that that's not going to happen and that you and I are going to be thrown together quite a lot this next year, so I think that the only way to deal with you is to tell you to back off. I may look all sweet and innocent as Jason tells everyone, but you'd be safe to not cross me. Troy and I are about to work out all the damage that you've caused between us and I'm not going anywhere this year. I'm not saying we have to be friends- because let's be honest, I think we've passed that step a long time ago- but we do have to amicable towards each other. I'd like to at least call a truce and put this summer behind us. We're seniors, Sharpay. This is supposed to be the best year of our high school life. Do you really want something immature like whatever this is to ruin it?" Gabriella crossed her arms across her chest and watched as Sharpay took in everything she had just said.

"I guess you're right, Gabriella. This year is going to be amazing. I want to make sure it stays that way." Sharpay held out her right hand to Gabriella and waited patiently as she took it. The two girls shook, and Sharpay gave a small smile. "Truce?" she tentatively asked.

"Truce," Gabriella said with reassurance, returning the smile. "You're coming to watch the fireworks in a little bit, right?"

Sharpay looked at the ground and tried to hide her shy smile. Gabriella, however, noticed it anyway. "Yeah, I'm going. Zeke asked me earlier."

"Really?" Gabriella asked. "That doesn't surprise me at all." She paused as Sharpay blushed. "I do want to hear all about these new details, but I've got someone waiting on me."

Sharpay smiled as she looked at Gabriella's face. "Go find Troy. We'll catch up with each other later." Gabriella turned and started to walk away, but stopped in her tracks when she heard Sharpay call her name. When she turned back around and faced the blonde, Sharpay said to her "You really are a good person, Gabriella. I just wish things had worked out differently for us. Maybe we could have been friends after all."

"Who knows? There's always this next year. We'll see what happens." She gave Sharpay another smile and walked to the locker room to change into her blue cotton dress before making her way to the pool to meet up with her favorite basketball player.

* * *

As she emerged from the female locker room and walked out onto the patio surrounding the pool, she immediately spotted Troy sitting in one of the chairs not far in front of her with his back to her. She took a moment to admire the strong muscles of his back and took a deep, steadying breath as she slowly approached him.

Troy had let his mind wander while he was waiting on Gabriella to reveal herself to him once again. _Okay, Troy. Just stay calm. You did your part- you sent her the letter and told her how you feel. There's no way of knowing if she read it or not, but at least she showed up here tonight and is willing to talk about things. _His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a light hand softly touch his shoulder.

"Troy?" he heard. He turned around and looked at the face of the girl he'd come to love and gave her a soft smile.

"Hey, you. I thought you'd forgotten about me," he joked.

"I couldn't forget about you, Wildcat," she told him. The two just looked at each other for a moment, lost in each other's eyes. Finally, Gabriella broke the silence. "Are you going to let me sit down?" she asked with a giggle in her voice pointing to the spot beside him.

"Sorry," he said with a blush as he scooted over and allowed her to sit down. She took a seat and turned so she could see him. Quickly realizing that sitting next to each other would quickly become uncomfortable, she stood and swiftly moved to the seat across from Troy.

"That's better," she told him.

"Yeah, it is. Now I can look you in your eyes." He took a deep breath and began the conversation that the two knew was much needed in order to salvage the relationship that had come to mean so much to both of them. "Gabriella, I really don't know what to say right now. I mean, I can start by saying that I'm sorry, but that seems not only redundant, but… but not enough. I never meant to hurt you, Gabriella."

"Troy, I know that."

"Let me finish, please," he snapped. Gabriella flinched at the near harshness of his words and he immediately took both of her hands in his. "I'm sorry. That didn't come out the right way. Please, Gabriella, let me finish. I'm afraid I won't be able to get all of this out if I don't say it now." When she gave him a nod of her head, he continued. "Like I said, I never meant to hurt you. I knew that a scholarship was important and I guess that I just let it become too important. Factor in Sharpay and everything that she was doing and I guess that my head just got filled with-"

"Pink sequins and glitter?" she asked as she looked up at his face. Troy found himself trying to fight off laughter as Gabriella tried to lighten the mood. He gave her as much of a warning look as he could muster up and she blushed. "Sorry. Continue," she told him sheepishly.

"After you left me that night on the bridge, I started thinking about things that had happened this summer. I realized that I had allowed myself to become a puppet on a string and Sharpay was the puppet master controlling my every move." At the mention of the blonde's name, Gabriella lowered her eyes to the ground, instantly becoming interested in her feet. "I didn't like who I had become and didn't like the way I had been treating everyone. Especially you. You're the most important person in my life right now, Gabriella."

Gabriella lifted her coffee brown eyes to search out his sapphire blue ones. She had only read his feelings in the letter he sent her online. She had yet to hear him verbally reveal his feelings. "You mean…" she began, but allowed her voice to slowly drift off.

"Gabriella, I let things get too out of hand with Sharpay. I should have picked up on what was going on before things got to out of hand."

"You couldn't know. You couldn't see it. It's things like that that only other people can pick up on. Troy, that's what everyone was trying to tell you. You were getting out of hand and we were only trying to point that out."

"I know that now," he told her. "I want things to be different. I know I said that when we first got here, but I'm going to make things different this time around. That is, if you'll give me the chance again."

Gabriella gave him a small smile and reached up to run her fingers through his hair. "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?" she asked him.

"Why's that?" he asked with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Because I could really use a wish right now."

"What would you wish for?" he asked her as he reached up and twirled one of her curls between his fingers. It has always been one of her favorite actions and when he did it, it always had a calming affect on her.

"Now if I told you that it wouldn't come true, Wildcat. You know that," she teased.

"Gabriella, I meant what I said in that letter. I don't ever want to lose you. You mean way too much to me and I've been miserable these past couple of weeks knowing that I can't touch you or kiss you, can't be near you, can't pick up the phone and call you just to let you know that I'm thinking about you. I can't do this anymore, Gabriella. I love you. Please give me a chance to show you that I'm back to my old self."

Gabriella gave him a smile and reached her hand up to gently caress his cheek. "I think I can manage that," she said softly. She stood up from her seat and held her hand out, inviting him to take it and stand with her. "Come on, Wildcat. We've got fireworks waiting on us."

He stood from his spot and wrapped his arms around her waist as they made the short trek to the golf course where the Fourth of July fireworks would be happening and their friends were waiting on them.

* * *

The rest of the group had decided on a meeting spot earlier that afternoon and Chad informed Troy of the location before the show started. As he and Gabriella approached the fourth fare way, they noticed the other eight of their friends already there waiting for them. Taylor immediately noticed the two of them holding hands and rushed forward, pulling Gabriella aside, ignoring that fact that she and Troy were still connected at the hands.

"Come with me," she demanded. Troy jerked forward as Taylor pulled Gabriella free from his hold.

"Taylor, my arm!" he exclaimed. "It is still connected to my body!"

"Sorry," she called out as she and Gabriella separated themselves from the rest of the group by several feet. Once they were alone, Taylor looked her best friend in the eyes. "Well?" she prompted.

"Well, what?" Gabriella asked, knowing exactly what Taylor wanted to know.

"Did you two talk?"

Instead of responding with words, Gabriella just grinned, biting her lower lip. Taylor squealed and threw her arms around her friend's neck, giving her a tight squeeze. "I knew this would work! You're welcome, by the way," Taylor told her.

Gabriella just giggled and turned back around in time to see Troy and Chad having a guys version of a girls' gossip session. Chad was pounding Troy on his back with his own form of congratulations. She and Taylor approached the guys in time to hear Chad repeat Taylor's words from earlier.

"I knew this would work! You're welcome, by the way."

The girls laughed making their presence known to their boyfriends, who instantly came to stand behind their girlfriends, wrapping their arms around the girls' waists.

"The fireworks are about to start, everyone!" Ryan announced. The group gathered around and waited anxiously for the sky to light up. As they were watching the night sky above them, a shooting star flew over head. Various cries of joy, excitement, and surprise sounded from the group.

"Look!"

"Oh, it's beautiful!"

"I love shooting stars!"

"Make a wish, guys!"

Troy looked down at the girl who he had wrapped securely in his arms and she looked up at him at the same time. She gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

"Here's to the future," she told him.

"No," he said sincerely. "Here's to right now." The two of them looked deep in the other's eyes before leaning towards each other and letting their lips meet for the sweetest, deepest, most intimate kiss the two had shared through out the course of their relationship. This wasn't just a kiss of reconciliation. It was a kiss of the future and all that it held for them as a couple. When they broke apart reluctantly after a few minutes, Gabriella let her head rest on Troy's chest. After a moment of watching the fireworks in silence, she lifted her head and looked up at his face.

"You really love me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do. I really do. I promise I do," he told her with the most sincerity she'd ever heard come from him.

"Promise is a-" she started.

"I know, I know. 'Promise is really big word, Troy'," he said, repeating the words she'd said to him many times. "But you know what? In my book, love is an even bigger one. And I love you, Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella felt the smile spread across her whole face as she looked into the blue eyes that she'd come to know so deeply and stood on her tiptoes so she could reach him, placing a gently kiss on his chin causing Troy to look back down at her.

"My Wildcat," she said as she wrapped her arms tighter around his waist, trying to pull him even closer than he already was and gripped his shirt in her small fists. "I love you, too, Troy."

At her admission, Troy leaned down and met her in another sweet kiss. When they pulled away yet again, he cupped her cheek with his palm asked her "Hey, what was your wish?"

She just smiled at him and said one simple word: "This"


End file.
